In the living room of his home on near Seth, WV, Bill Matheny, a coal miner and loader now retired at age 89, tells how he and his wife Carol, used their well water for years until “it was poisoned” by the coal industry. They switched to municipal water but after the Elk River chemical spill, say they cannot trust it is safe. Even though the state government issued the ‘ok to use’ order for water on Jan. 13, Bill still doubts it is safe to drink, “How can you trust people who have been doing this [to us] for years and years and years?” Diagnosed with colon cancer last January and suffering
In the living room of his home on near Seth, WV, Bill Matheny, a coal miner and loader now retired at age 89, tells how he and his wife Carol, used their well water for years until “it was poisoned” by the coal industry. They switched to municipal water but after the Elk River chemical spill, say they cannot trust it is safe. Even though the state government issued the ‘ok to use’ order for water on Jan. 13, Bill still doubts it is safe to drink, “How can you trust people who have been doing this [to us] for years and years and years?” Diagnosed with colon cancer last January and suffering from stage four kidney disease, Carol, sitting next to him, says she won’t drink the water for fear of damaging her kidneys further, “If they declared it was safe I doubt I’d drink it.” The couple both say that they have not smelled the telltale licorice scent of the chemical MCHM so many have detected coming from their taps but the water does leave an unusual greasy film on the pots, pans and sink basins which cannot be cleaned off. What will the people in the affected areas do in light of the current crisis? Bill replies, “People here have been kicked around by the coal company so long, they’re tough, they’ll get through it.”
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Keywords: 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, chemical, clean, coal, country, crisis, delivery, elk, hub, industry, loading, mchm, miners, poison, retiree, river, safe, seth, sick, spill, toxic, virginia, water, west
