Victory! Public Water Lines Finally Coming to Prenter

In August, Gov. Manchin and other officials made headlines by announcing that 155 households in Prenter will have piped-in clean water in about a year.

Its a huge victory for citizen organizing, though the officials failed to recognize citizens efforts at the pipeline groundbreaking ceremony.

The Associated Press reported, "Residents of Prenter and Seth are suing eight coal companies they believe poisoned their wells by pumping coal slurry into old underground mines. They claim cracks in the earth allowed the slurry to migrate and pollute the aquifer.

"For months, many residents have been hauling

clean water home from a pay station at a church. Others rely on free fill-ups of the 50-gallon barrels at their homes."

Several people noted that many households in Prenter will not be served by this water line when it finally arrives in a year.

Others noted that the taxpayers are footing the bill for yet another coal industry mess. Several more pointed out that a year is a long time to wait when a majority of the community is very ill, thanks to the horribly polluted water.

So, the citizen organizing and the community-by-community victories will continue. Join SSP and help ban slurry injection!