On Thursday, Appalachian Voices and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth helped Keeper Springs Natural Spring Water delivered 30,000 bottles of water to thirteen Kentucky families in Pike County whose well water is contaminated with methane.
Earlier this year a well became contaminated with so much methane gas that it caught on fire. Residents say their well water flows black and orange sometimes and other times burns their skin. They reported the problem to government officials in May.
Four months have gone by and the residents still do not have a permanent source of clean, safe drinking water. Now Keeper Springs Natural Spring Water, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Appalachian Voices have stepped in to provide residents with a tractor-trailer load of bottled water.
Jamie GoodmanJamie is an Appalachian local with a deep and unshakeable love of the mountains her family has called home since the mid-1700s. With a background in journalism and communications, she has been with Appalachian Voices since 2008 and currently serves as our Director of Digital Innovation and Technology.
PREVIOUS
Use of a private well is always a risky proposition. Wouldn’t advise that even under the best of circumstances.
Clearly this well has tapped into some methane source underground. Whether that is a pocket of trapped methane or mobilized for some reason. Could be due to any number of potential causes, including underground mining an activity that KFTC advocates.
In this situation, the clear answer is to be on public water supply.