The Appalachian Voice
Volunteering in Appalachia: A Community Effort
Volunteering in Appalachia: A Community Effort By Kelsey Boyajian, Meredith Warfield and Emmalee Zupo Appalachia’s rich history of community unites this region. Whether it’s neighbors lending a hand in the yard, or a dedicated group joining together to clean up a local river, the tradition of service and volunteering is a way of life. The…
Read MoreAppalachian Coal Companies Face Major Water Pollution Fines
By Brian Sewell In March, two federal enforcement actions against Appalachian coal companies called attention to the pervasive threat of water pollution from mountaintop removal coal mining. First, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a $27.5 million settlement with Alpha Natural Resources — the largest mountaintop removal mining operator in the U.S. — for violations…
Read MoreWho Has Priority Over Water?
By Matt Wasson, Ph.D. CHARLESTON, W.Va. — What do January’s Kanawha Valley chemical spill, the Exxon Valdez spill and the Deepwater Horizon incident have in common? All were man-made environmental disasters, disrupting the lives of thousands of people, and all cracked open for public view astonishing examples of corporate and regulatory dereliction. What don’t they…
Read MoreWary and Waiting
By Karen Smith Zornes I didn’t have a problem with the spill at first; I thought, “Accidents happen.” But when it came time for us to flush, I had an asthma attack from the smell. I went outside for fresh air and tried to flush again later — and had another asthma attack. After our…
Read MoreOne Seriously Angry Granny
By Linda Sodaro Sometime last year, my good friend Kim and I had a conversation about the joys of a hot shower. The perfect temperature, with lovely handmade soap and standing there as long as we liked. She said, “I don’t think we’re always going to have that.” Kim’s prophetic words came to pass Jan.…
Read MoreAn Expanded Idea of Leadership
By Jen Osha Buysse The stories that get me the most are the stories of mothers with children who are sick and asking why the state is not considering it an emergency. Why is the government providing less emergency water every day, even though every day we’re learning new, disturbing issues with the water situation?…
Read MoreA Son’s Outrage
By Dustin White I tried to take a Jan. 28 sample of the water from my dad’s West Virginia American Water tap — the gallon jug above — into the state capitol to show our politicians the water we are forced to live with. Security told me I could not bring it in, and if…
Read MoreWest Virginia Pride
By Hannah Spencer Through this disaster I have been reassured that I am proud to be a West Virginian. The folks who make me proud to be a West Virginian are those who haven’t had work since the water crisis, but are still at their local fire departments and churches handing out supplies every day.…
Read MoreFending For Yourself
By William Holsting We don’t have the licorice smell now, but when they started flushing it smelled bad for awhile. I still don’t trust the water. You wash your hair and you feel itchy and scratchy about your ears, and I don’t know if it’s the water or just in my mind. I would feel…
Read MoreLife is Surreal Since the Chemical Spill
By Linda Frame “That’s a First World Problem, Mom,” my teenage son told me one day. I can’t remember now what trivial thing I was complaining about. Because that was before the chemical spill. On Thursday evening, Jan. 9, I was where I am a lot of the time, at the grocery store. I noticed…
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