Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

TexasTowelie

(111,279 posts)
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 03:47 AM Oct 2019

Once clean water now runs red in Fayette County town, spurring a fight for the PSD's future

At one point, the public drinking water pulled from an underground aquifer in the western slice of Fayette County was so clean that board members at the Page-Kincaid Public Service District wanted to bottle and sell it.

Then, last July, something changed.

High traces of iron, manganese and aluminum started showing up on water quality tests. Residents started seeing their laundry dyed shades of red and pink due to the water. When it came out of faucets in kitchens or bathrooms, some reported a strange smell, or that it ran “milky” or “rusty,” according to complaints.

Connie Smith gave her 2-year-old grandson a bath last August, and when she lifted him out of the tub, she found his skin covered in a red, bumpy rash.

“It’s scary. My other grandchildren are staying here, too. We tell them to take quick, quick showers. We take quick showers, and we don’t drink [the water] at all,” Smith said. “We buy water for everything, we won’t touch it.”

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/once-clean-water-now-runs-red-in-fayette-county-town/article_dd69f3d5-11a1-544c-8d32-e9a2134cd15b.html

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Once clean water now runs red in Fayette County town, spurring a fight for the PSD's future (Original Post) TexasTowelie Oct 2019 OP
Blasting from mines cracked casings. PatrickforO Oct 2019 #1
There are so many problems with that story ... UpInArms Oct 2019 #2
Elections have consequences blueinredohio Oct 2019 #3

UpInArms

(51,252 posts)
2. There are so many problems with that story ...
Sun Oct 20, 2019, 06:36 AM
Oct 2019

1. A federal lawsuit filed by the Fayette County Commission alleges that blasting at a nearby underground mining complex cracked the casings of the PSD’s two deep wells, opening them up to contaminants.

But Mike Callaghan, the lawyer representing the Fayette County Commission, said expert engineers hired by him and those at Seminole — the company named in the suit, and that filed for bankruptcy last year and is now a subsidiary of Murray Energy — said it was “very, very, very unlikely” that any mining activity at that complex would have affected Page-Kincaid’s wells.


And then ...

The PSD now plans to install two more water filters as part of a $3.3 million rehabilitation project, which will be financed through $2.2 million in loans and about $1 million in grants.

And ...

Customers are angry with the PSD. It seems the iron contamination opened a floodgate. A petition signed by more than 400 residents called for an investigation into the PSD’s operations, and complaints went further than the poor water quality that started last year. They allege an entire mishandling of the system, from billing to water treatment, and several ask for WVAW, by name, to take over the system.

.... and then ...

He’s concerned about making the New River the new water source, citing examples of pollution and contamination that he said would never threaten the underground wells operated by the PSD. He’s also concerned about WVAW’s practice of taking over drinking water systems, but not wastewater.

... all the way to ...

For Smith, who, like many of her neighbors, is retired and lives on a fixed income, the price is one of the more concerning things. She said she’s seen the PSD bleed money through past projects, and yet her service has never improved. She got a $500 water bill just last week — not for the first time — and said she hasn’t been able to get a leak adjustment.

........

So f**ked up from so many directions ... one would almost think it was on purpose

Latest Discussions»Region Forums»West Virginia»Once clean water now runs...