‘We Need Help’ – Coal Country Residents Are Desperate For Clean Water

On this West Virginia Morning, a family in West Virginia coal country learned the hard way that their well water was contaminated. As coal mines play out, water problems add up.

Some two million people in the U.S. live without access to running water and many more live with contaminated water. Reporter Benny Becker visited people in the Ohio Valley and on the Navajo Nation in Arizona who live without adequate clean water.

Those include a West Virginia family desperate to get connected to a clean water supply. Their well water was contaminated, and they suspect pollution from years of coal and gas extraction is to blame. Here’s their story, in their own words.

The Ohio Valley ReSource is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Northern Panhandle Author Nora Edinger is taking advantage of the internet to deliver a new story in an old way. She is publishing a serial version of her novel “Suspended Aggravation” on the Wheeling-focused website Weelunk.com and is localizing the story around the sights and sounds of the city. She spoke to Eric Douglas to explain the process.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.