Walk For Water

The Martin County coal slurry spill was a mining accident that occurred after midnight on October 11, 2000, when the bottom of a coal slurry impoundment owned by Massey Energy in Martin County, Kentucky, broke into an abandoned underground mine below.[1] The slurry came out of the mine openings, sending an estimated 306 million US gallons (1.16 million cubic metres; 1.16 billion litres) of slurry down two tributaries of the Tug Fork River. By morning, Wolf Creek was oozing with the black waste; on Coldwater Fork, a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) stream became a 100-yard (91 m) expanse of thick slurry.

The spill, which contained arsenic and mercury, killed everything in the water.[2] It was over five feet deep in places and covered nearby residents' yards. The spill polluted hundreds of miles (200–300 mi or 300–500 km) of the Big Sandy River and its tributaries and the Ohio River. The water supply for over 27,000 residents was contaminated, and all aquatic life in Coldwater Fork and Wolf Creek was killed. The spill was 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill, spilling 12 million US gallons (45,000 cubic metres; 45 million litres). It was one of the worst environmental disasters ever in the southeastern United States, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[3] In 2001, the EPA ordered Massey Energy to clean up and restore the damaged areas of Martin County.[4] The EPA took measures to investigate this site, and make restoration plans.[5] A decade later,[when?] there are still water quality issues in Martin County; people are still finding sludge and slurry in their surface waters, such as streams.[6]

The spill was exceeded in volume by the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill in 2008. Since this spill, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has made efforts to prevent this from happening in the future by implementing new slurry pond regulations. A few of MSHA's efforts include increasing training for staff, and requiring mining engineers to perform thorough investigations of mining impoundment areas.[7]

The goal of this event is to raise 20k through the non profit Appalachian Pioneer Program. Raising awareness and funds for the folks of this community to help implement forms of clean water logistics to the area. Sadly these folks have been dealing with this issues since Oct of 2000 and have received little to no help for the issue due to the isolation of the community. This is the same exact community where President Lyndon Johnson declared the war on poverty in 1964. 15 states in America are dealing with similar issues but not nearly as extreme, however the fact is citizens of the richest country in the world shouldn't be dealing with water accessibility. Sadly the isolation of rural Appalachias lack of a connection to industry outside of coal which is nearly out of business has left it without much funding from the federal government. 6 states in Appalachia are dealing with water crisis issues and these will only get worse if we don't take action today. The community of Martin Co KY once had 27,000 folks in the county but has dwindled to just over 11k since this tragic loss of water access. People unwilling to move from places where their families laid roots or unable to due to financial burdens are stuck with the bill of Massey energies great fault. A fault that we most work to help make amends.

The last weekend of October Austin Shuck the founder of Appalachian Pioneer Program, Kentucky Gentleman Media and What The Shuck?! Podcast will take an 88 mile walk to raise awareness on this crisis as well as other issues of crumbling infrastructure we face in Kentucky and Appalachia.

Below I have posted a video with work done by Hey Kentucky and reporting from Matt Jones covering the crisis and what's been going on in this community,