Beginning of the end of N.C.’s coal ash crisis

North Carolinians have won a major victory with the announcement that Duke Energy would remove coal ash from its remaining sites. Appalachian Voices is proud to have worked side-by-side with the people who fought so hard, for so long to defend their communities.

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(Un)Well Water

Plastic bottle with rust-colored tap water

Melissa and Chauncy Easterling first discovered that something was wrong with the well water that fed their Jolo, W.Va., home in late 2016. Neither they nor their local health department could pinpoint the cause. “It had a real strong odor to it, and then it started looking kind of red, like it was rusty,” Melissa…

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Water Systems: The Invisible Infrastructure

Mason jars with yellow tap water

Most Americans don’t think twice about the ability to turn on a tap and have clean, safe water pour out. “Water is something we take for granted,” says Glenn Barnes, associate director of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina School of Government. “We just assume we’re going to turn on the…

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Contaminated: Drinking Water Problems in Appalachia

Floyd spring

By Hannah Gillespie Springs Harbor Potentially Harmful Bacteria Leigh-Anne Krometis, associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering, began studying the use of Appalachian roadside springs for drinking water in 2016 to determine whether they could be a public health risk. Krometis studied how often and why people collect drinking water from 19…

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