The law now allows companies like Wheeling-Nisshin and Mountain State Carbon to deposit adequate amounts of sulfur into the Ohio River.

"The DEP changed the amount of emissions that could go into the Ohio River, and if these plants didn't comply, the could have potentially shut down," said Tomblin.

Tombin said that jobs were saved by the signing of Senate Bill 121.

"These plants were ready to close down, so when the local people came to me, we were able to help them. That is the reason why I thought it was so important to come here and sign this bill. Jobs were saved here in the northern panhandle," said Tomblin.

Now that the bill is signed, officials at Wheeling-Nisshin are breathing a sigh of relief.

"The DEP will now set a new limit on which we can operate and live with. It won't cost us thousands of dollars to change something in our operating structure," said Ty Lollini of Wheeling-Nisshin, "This now takes money we had earmarked for this project. Now we can put that into our operation."