The fight for clean water in Martin County, Kentucky

Editor’s note: The People’s Tribune interviewed BarbiAnn Maynard from Martin County, Kentucky about her community’s life or death struggle for clean water. Known as a voice of the people in her community, Maynard is active in the fight for water as a human right nationwide.
BarbiAnn Maynard: “I want to read you what’s on the back of my water bill. It says if you are pregnant, have an infant, are elderly or have a severely compromised immune system, see a healthcare provider about drinking this water . . . people who drink the water over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have increased risk of cancer.”
“My mom had cancer twice. She died at 48. My mother grew up in Martin County and within five miles of our home, 23 people had cancer at the same time. Now my dad has dementia. I can go on my front porch and point out seven other houses with dementia. Dementia and cancer rates in this county are beyond crazy.”
“The Martin County coal slurry spill was the largest manmade disaster east of the Mississippi. The chemicals cannot be cleaned naturally and take on different forms. They have been absorbed into the soil and continue to cause problems nearly two decades later. The state charged Massey Energy two cents per gallon, equaling $5,200 for the 300 million of gallons of sludge! The total numbers for chlorine, HAA and THM are mind blowing. All the contaminated filth and sand was sucked into the water. So now, after 18 years, they decided to take little steps [to make updates to the Crum Reservoir]. Our reservoir is so nasty, there’s probably 50 propone tanks floating in the water, rubber gloves, batteries, hundred of packs of meat rotting. I have organized a community clean-up where we all get together on July 21. My family’s spending my daughter’s 17th birthday cleaning up the reservoir!”
“We had 29 boil advisories last year. Boiling water kills bacteria, but guess what, it only concentrates the chemicals causing liver damage, kidney damage, central nervous system damage and cancer. But if you don’t boil water you get sick from bacteria. So you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
“There’s 14 houses on one side of the county where people go to the water department and pay $50 for a token. Then they go to Johnson County an hour away to haul their own water and take it back to their homes. The only difference from a third world country and here is that we’re not packing water baskets on our head.”
“LBJ [President Johnson] signed the welfare act in Martin County. Today, we’re still in the top 50 poorest counties in US. You used to be able to make $20 an hour in the mines out of high school. You could work your way up to making $50-60 hour as a boss. So, you were providing for your family pretty well. Then all of a sudden, you and your spouse are working at fast food just to put food on table. That’s the only jobs left here. The coal severance tax of hundreds of thousands of dollars kept people afloat. Now it’s a drastic difference. We’ve said for years, don’t put all your eggs in one basket; we need a back up plan. Ten million was spent on new government buildings, on top of mismanagement and corruption. Frankfort is now stepping up, saying the Martin County Water District has major problems. The Public Service Commission stated at an ongoing investigation that, “Martin County has by far the worst water in the state.” We hope for answers and for those guilty of doing this to people are prosecuted.”
“The people need to take the power back.”
“People ask why I don’t move. Well, my mommy had a flower garden in my front yard. We’re 10 years out from losing her and we still have flowers from her again this year. You put a dollar amount on that as I sure can’t.”
BarbiAnne Maynard is running for Magistrate for District 4, Kentucky.