Use abandoned mine funds to fix dilapidated water systems

As current chairman of the Martin County Concerned Citizens, I deeply appreciate the spotlight that the Herald-Leader has put on the water problems that my county and other rural areas are experiencing. The articles correctly identified the most pressing problems for many of these failing water districts: leaky pipes.

In Martin County, over 70 percent of treated water never makes it to the faucet. Not only is the water loss a major financial and energy burden, the leaks in the line allow dirt and other debris to enter pipes after treatment.

The five suggestions from water experts in the final installment of the series on Dec. 6 were right on target to provide relief to hundreds of thousands of Kentucky residents in rural communities.

The first of these suggestions is to allocate grant money to fix service lines. Technically this needs to include replacement of larger main lines. Kentucky taxpayers should understand that we not asking for a handout by requesting access to these funds. The billions of dollars in the Abandoned Mines Land (AML) fund that accumulated during the coal boom years are intended to address problems just like this.

As the name suggests, these funds are supposed to ensure economic development for coal-producing counties. However, the few Kentucky leaders who control the distribution of this money for “economic development” always seem to allocate the funds to corporations in order to entice them to the area rather than prioritizing the pressing needs of its residents. AML pilot grants are a perfect example:

Letcher County was awarded $1 million for a water line extension for a new federal prison, while residents there experience similar water quality issues.

In a recent Martin County Water District board meeting, board members announced a plan to apply for another $2.059 million AML grant that would “improve water supply for the Big Sandy Federal Prison, Big Sandy Airport and the…Honey Branch Industrial Park,” all built on a former mountaintop removal site at the edge of the county, while the citizens languish with a poor and unreliable water supply.

While Kentucky officials claim that AML money cannot be used for residential water lines, West Virginia and Pennsylvania have both allocated money from AML for that exact purpose.

For example, in 2016 West Virginia awarded AML funds for the Highland Mountain Waterline Extension, a project that will “provide clean water to approximately 188 homeowners which will help to stabilize the local tax base and improve property values.”

Pennsylvania has also found a way to use AML money to supply reliable, safe drinking water to its citizens. In 2016, they awarded AML funds to The Pine Grove North/Lawrence Township Waterline Extension Project, which they claimed “will provide potable water to a rural area and increase the potential for industrial development, new single family dwellings, and small businesses.”

No healthy industry is going to locate in a county as long as residents do not have access to safe, reliable drinking water. Kentucky’s current vision of “economic development” projects ends up funneling money to the corporate cronies instead of helping to support the citizens who have chosen to stay in the hills they love even after after coal mining has sunk their wells, leveled a third of the hills they love, and filled the rivers and streams with silt.

The money is there. The laid off workers are here. All we need are creative leaders who can offer realistic answers to some very real problems. We need new pipes; otherwise, all we will have are pipe dreams.