| Prenter residents import water, say groundwater contaminated
Residents of a northern Boone County community say their well water is "too toxic to touch," so they're trying to raise $15,000 to deliver barrels of clean water to about 300 homes
By Eric Eyre
Staff Writer
wvgazette.com
PRENTER, W.Va. - Residents of a northern Boone County community say their well water is "too toxic to touch," so they're trying to raise $15,000 to deliver barrels of clean water to about 300 homes.
The contaminated water in Prenter Hollow has caused widespread health problems, including high rates of gallbladder and kidney disease, community organizers said. Children also suffer from unexplained urinary tract infections and tooth decay.
"The water is not good for human consumption," said Glen Collins, a volunteer organizer with the Prenter Water Fund project. "But people are still drinking it. They're bathing their children in it. They're cooking with it."
Money donated to the water fund would help deliver 55-gallon barrels of fresh water to Prenter homes twice a month for a year.
A previous donation from the Vivian and Paul Olum Foundation was used to purchase barrels, hand pumps and a tank to haul the water.
The Boone County Public Service District has applied for a state grant to build a public water line to Prenter. The line would connect to a West Virginia American Water line near Seth. The project would take more than a year to complete.
Meantime, residents and outside experts allege the local well water in Prenter Hollow continues to make people sick.
They believe coal slurry injections from abandoned mines contaminated the groundwater. Blasting at nearby mines had made the problem worse, they said. The water started going bad in 2003.
"The tragedy in Prenter and other Appalachian communities is that folks had good water, then over a period of time, their water gradually degraded to the point where it is obviously not fit for bathing, much less cooking and drinking," said Benjamin Stout, a Wheeling Jesuit University biology professor who has tested well water in Prenter. "During that period of degradation, they have been unknowingly exposed to high levels of metals that have well-known human consequences."
Pam Johnson, a registered nurse who's surveying Prenter residents about health problems, said 98 percent of adults interviewed in the area have gallbladder disease.
"Before I went down there I thought that people were exaggerating their problems, but when I got there, I realized they were underreporting their health problems," Johnson said in a news release. "If you can stop them from drinking the water, you can stop people from getting worse."
Prenter residents also complain that their dental health has deteriorated, alleging that the toxic well water has dissolved children's teeth, Johnson said.
"There's a 5-year-old with a full set of dentures," she said.
During the past year, many Prenter residents have filled up jugs and barrels with potable water at nearby churches and community centers. But older and disabled residents have a difficult time getting fresh water, Collins said.
He expects to start delivering water to Prenter homes within the next week or two.
"It's a really good time to donate, especially with the holiday season when people feel like giving," Collins said.
To make a tax-deductible donation to the Prenter Water Fund, go to www.prenterwaterfund.org, and send to Prenter Water Fund, c/o Coal River Mountain Watch, P.O. Box 651, Whitesville, WV 25209, or call Collins at 304-854-1937.
Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com
or 304-348-4869
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