The Martin County water crisis is an on-going public health crisis that began in 2000, when a coal slurry spill contaminated the area's water supply with cancer-causing disinfection byproducts and coliform bacteria. Residents report the water having a strong smell of chlorine, discoloration, odd taste, sediment and irritation/burning when in contact with skin. The contamination was caused by the spillage of approximately 300 million gallons of arsenic and mercury concentrated coal sludge into an abandoned underground mine and two tributaries of the Tug Fork River by local coal company Massey Energy Company on October 11, 2000. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the spill was one of the worst environmental disasters ever in the southern United States.
In 2001, the EPA ordered Massey to help rehabilitate the impaired sections of Martin County. This rehabilitation included paying $46 million for the cleanup, $3.5 million in state fines, and an undisclosed amount to residents who sued the company. MCC had to pay $3.25 million in penalties and damages to Kentucky, which was the largest mining-related fine in the history of the state. After the spill, the water system was found in disarray and root and branch reforms were needed to repair the damaged infrastructure and water management systems; however, since the incident, no meaningful investments have been made while increasing the service area of provision of contaminated water. As a result, water outages and line breaks are recurrent, causing the residents of Martin County to resort to either bottled water or having to boil it for safety. Moreover, the price for the contaminated water has had a history of steady increase due to the extensive treatment needed, yet the fact that Martin County is one of the poorest counties in the United States, has made it inaccessible for some of the residents. Jack Spadaro, a previous director of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy (NMHSA), led an investigation on the spill and revealed that Martin County Coal (MCC), a subsidiary of Massey, had a past spill in 1994, and knew that another break was almost inevitable. Spadaro also argued that the MCC could have, but did nothing to prevent this break, even adding several feet of sludge to the sludge pond between 1994 and the 2000 spill.
In December 2018, a yearlong study of the county's water was instigated by University of Kentucky researchers, and members of Martin County Concerned Citizens (MCCC). This study revealed that the drinking water consistently exceeded the U.S. EPA maximum contamination levels for cancer-causing disinfection byproducts and coliform bacteria, with 47% of the 97 samples taken from Martin County households containing at least one contaminant, and 13% containing the bacteria. The MCCC conducted a survey with the owners of the households above, and revealed that only 12% of respondents said they drank the tap water.
Timeline
May 23, 1994- About 342 acre-feet of water in excess of allowable water quality standards flowed from a coal slurry refuse impoundment into Wolf Creek through abandoned mine shafts in the area. August 18, 1994- A revision that proposes a seepage barrier to be built by Martin County Coal Corporation is passed. October 7, 1999- Concerns are expressed about the stability of the mine shafts underneath the slurry impoundment. October 11, 2000- At about 2:00 A.M., approximately 250 million gallons of coal fine refuse slurry are released into the Wolf Creek and Rockcastle Creek watersheds. This is caused by a breach in an underground mine adjacent to Martin County Coal Company's refuse impoundment. October 11, 2000- Nearly all aquatic life in the creeks is killed due to suffocation by the slurry. October 12–16, 2000- Martin County Coal Company constructs filter dams in Wolf Creek and Rockcastle Creek to manage the flow of the coal slurry. October 17, 2000- Schools are closed to preserve water. October 25, 2000- Louisa, KY completes a water pipe upstream to supply residents. Advisories about the safety of drinking water are lifted. December 17, 2000- Cleanup of coal slurry is no longer represented as an emergency, and as a result EPA presence is removed from the area. October 17, 2001- The Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration publishes a report on the Martin County Coal Company's failure to comply with previous provisions which led to the disaster. 2002- Massey Energy, the parent company of Martin County Coal Company, settles to pay 3.25 million dollars in damages to the state of Kentucky, after reportedly paying 46 million dollars on cleanup. June 4, 2003- Whistleblower Jack Spadaro is placed on involuntary administrative leave after his role in the investigation of MCCC and MSHA, which furthers Martin County resident's distrust of the government and water supply. April 11, 2005- The documentary “Sludge” is released, telling the story of the sludge spill and its effects on the people of Appalachia. August 7, 2006- The CDC publishes a report concluding that the slurry spill produced no adverse health affects on the people of Martin County, and that any water contamination was caused by a change of source rather than contamination by the slurry. December 22, 2018- Country music singer Tyler Childers distributes water to Martin County residents, bringing attention to the water crisis. 2000–present-Despite assurances from the EPA, CDC, and MCCC, residents of Martin County report distrust of the tap water in the area. About 96% of residents rely on bottled water for drinking.
Background
Martin County is a community in eastern Kentucky with a current population of approximately 11,195 people. The people of this county have been struggling to survive due to heavily contaminated water for the last several decades. The contamination can be traced back to an incident in October 2000. A local subsidiary of Massey Energy was mining coal in the area for energy production. The byproduct of the energy production process is a black sludge substance which contains high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and other industrial pollutants. This substance is very hard to dispose of so it was being stored in a 72-acre coal slurry impoundment pond. Underneath the pond was an abandoned coal mine which collapsed under the pressure. The contents of the pond poured through the mine tunnels and exited directly into two large water supplies. Over 300 million gallons of sludge flowed into two county streams, Goldwater Creek and Wolf Creek. These empty into the Tug Fork River which is the source for the county's drinking water. This leads to even more damage past just the water quality. Residents’ yards were flooded with the thick, black paste which destroyed everything in its path. Wildlife in Wolf and Goldwater Creek was exterminated, including an estimated 1.6 million fish. After the spill, the coal companies responsible and the EPA told residents that their drinking water was safe. They claimed the local water filtration plant was able to remove the harmful contaminants. However, it was later revealed that the plant's filters were not washed properly and some of the filter control valves were not fully functional. This has caused many of the residents to be distrusting of water quality authorities and as a result they choose not to use tap water because they do not believe it is safe. Now, only 12% of the county uses water from the tap. After it was found that the water system was failing, recommendations were made for reform to fix the broken infrastructure and the poor management. However, the utility failed to come through on those recommendations. Due to this, pipes and pumps have frequent line breaks and outages. Line breaks cause risk of contamination like harmful bacteria and brown water. Some of the household bills show over 50,000 gallons of water being used which is four times the national average. This is directly linked with the water district's leakage problem. Approximately 70% of Martin County's water is lost because of leaking pipes. About 97% of the country's 153,000 public drinking water systems serve 10,000 people or less. The reservoir is littered with empty liquor bottles and used syringes, and only one of the three water clarifying tanks is actually even fully functional. Local officials are trying to fix all that which has caused water rates to go up by 41% last year alone. Twenty years later the inhabitants of Martin County are still struggling to live in their environment of fear, distrust, and pollution.
Early contamination
The hygiene of the water in Martin County has been a concern since a coal slurry spill contaminated the water supply in 2000. The spill was a result of a mining accident that occurred on October 11 when the bottom of a coal slurry impoundment owned by Massey Energy cracked under pressure and sent an enormous amount of coal slurry into an abandoned underground mine. After entering the mine, an estimated 306-million gallons of slurry found its way to two tributaries of the Tug Fork River. Shortly after, nearby creeks were filled with the black, gooey waste. The slurry contained mercury, arsenic, and several other harmful chemicals. This killed almost all local aquatic life and harmed many species that depended on the nearby water sources. The spill stretched across over 200 miles of the Big Sandy River and made its way to the Ohio River. Thus, the water supply for over 27,000 residents was compromised. It remains one of the worst environmental disasters to strike the southeastern United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Almost a year after the spill in 2001, the EPA ordered Massey Energy to restore the streams and waterways affected by the spill. However, even with supervision from the EPA and numerous efforts to try to mitigate the damage, the water supply is still compromised two decades later. Martin County residents are still finding slurry and/or sludge in the surface waters of the county. After a large coal fly ash slurry spill in 2008, slurry pond regulations have been made by the Mine Safety and Health Administration to prevent spills like this one and the Martin County coal slurry spill in the future. The administration has also issued annual checks on mining impoundment areas by mining engineers and increased staff training on preventive measures of another spill.
Massey Energy company was fined $5,600 by the federal government for the spill. The rest of the investigation on the company was suspended after George W. Bush was elected. This is thought to be caused by Massey Energy being a large contributor to the Republican Party. A whistleblower, Jack Spadaro, released information that the Bush administration was purposefully covering up the Martin County spill. After this, many residents of Martin County were outraged.
Studies
After the spill on October 11, 2000, the coal companies responsible for the spill as well as the Environmental Protection Agency stated that the water was safe to drink for Martin County residents and that the water filtration plant removed all harmful contaminants. A later undisclosed report found that many of the filter control valves were not functional and that many of the filters were not washed properly.