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Martin County rises in WWATERS ranking; lawmakers will decide funds
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN FRANKFORT — After receiving no funding last year due to scoring errors, Martin County returned to a competitive statewide process this fall with 12 water and sewer projects that ranked near the top for assistance under the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems program. The
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Martin County Water cannot afford another miss in Frankfort
Kentucky’s new WWATERS program was created for communities like Martin County—places where decades-old infrastructure, chronic underinvestment and limited local resources make safe, reliable water and wastewater service an everyday challenge. Yet last year, when Kentucky lawmakers awarded more $75 million to distressed utilities across the state, Martin County received nothing. Not one project. Not one
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UK to present water study findings in Martin County
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — University of Kentucky researchers will return to Martin County next week to present findings from a five-year study on drinking water safety and disinfection byproducts (DBPs), continuing a research effort that began with a pilot study in 2018. The Mountain Drinking Water Study report-back meetings will take place
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UK to share findings of five-year water study in Martin County Nov. 3 & 4
BY MADISON MOONEY This is the second installment of What’s the drip? For this article, I will focus on findings that will be presented in the Mountain Drinking Water Project’s community meetings next week. However, before we dive into the Mountain Drinking Water Project, I wanted to share a timeline of how this project got
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McCoy objects to Martin County Water District’s proposed fee and rate hikes: ‘This is cruel’
BY ROGER SMITH MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Despite objections from one board member, the Martin County Water District is proposing higher meter charges, a higher rate on leak adjustments and new service requirements for customers. Board chairman Tim Thoma presented the proposal during a special meeting Aug. 12. Following a 3-1 vote, the district will
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Mingo County PSD receives grant for water treatment plant
NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — The Mingo County Public Service District was one of seven water and sewer service districts in the state that were either awarded grants or received a low-interest loan by the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council. The grants and/or loans, which were announced last week by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, are to
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Martin County still needs Alliance
BY NINA MCCOY In the wake of our most recent brown water event, people are rightly concerned and looking for answers, and possibly someone to blame. You can be assured the water board and Alliance are working with several entities to figure out what happened, and we will continue to report on what happened and
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Mural unveiled in Inez honors fight for clean water
Beneath a vivid mural of a woman strumming a banjo as water flows from her figure through green mountains and starry skies, community members gathered Saturday in downtown Inez to celebrate the new public artwork honoring Martin County’s fight for clean, reliable drinking water. Appalachian Pioneer Program founder Austin Shuck commissioned the mural and led
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Corrosive water ‘root cause’ of brown water in Martin County, chairman says
BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — Martin County Water Board Chairman Tim Thoma says recent widespread brown water in the county is a symptom of corrosive water dislodging mineral buildup inside aging pipes. “This is the root cause,” Thoma told the board in a July 22 meeting, citing the county’s negative Langelier Saturation Index
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Manganese in Martin County water sample exceeds federal health advisory level
BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — A recent water sample collected from a residence on Newberry Lane in Inez exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime health advisory threshold for manganese, according to test results released July 22 by Alliance Water Resources, the management contractor for the Martin County Water District. The sample, collected
