Bottled Water Drive For Martin County
Mercer Retired Teachers Collecting Water For Martin County Residents
Cathy Carter, a retired teacher, unloads water at the Harrodsburg Herald for the Martin County water drive.
Jennifer Marsh
Herald Staff
jmarsh@harrodsburgherald.com
The Mercer County Retired Teacher Association is holding a bottled water drive to assist in the water crisis in Martin County. Bottles of water can be dropped off at the Harrodsburg Herald during regular business hours during the month of January.
The Martin County water crisis has made national news several times in 2018 with the most notable being CNN’s coverage in February. When they open their taps, residents say they sometimes receive brown cloudy water or water that looks like blue Gatorade or water that smells like diesel fuel. Much of the blame is placed on the county’s aging infrastructure. It’s estimated that more than half of the water that leaves the Martin County Water District treatment center doesn’t make it to the faucet.
Nina McCoy, a retired high school teacher and chair of the Concerned Citizens of Martin County, suggests using abandoned mine grants to cover the financial deficit surrounding the cost of replacing water lines. Many officials have told news sites that the collapse of the coal industry and poorly managed systems are to blame.
Bill Huff helps deliver water bottles for the Martin County water drive.
The members of the Mercer County Retired Teacher Association have decided no child should have to go without drinking water in Kentucky and started a drive to gather bottled water for affected residents.
Collection began on Wednesday, Dec. 26, with delivery to Martin County planned for the week of Jan. 2, 2019, with volunteers providing transportation.
“Several of us are putting pressure on members of the legislature to fix this problem once and for all,” said Cathy Carter, a member of the Mercer County Retired Teacher Association. “It’s not just Martin County who is dealing with faulty water infrastructures.”
Carter said the retired teachers plan to continue the drive until the problem is fixed.
For more information on the water crisis in Martin County visit www.kentucky.com or check out the concerned citizens facebook group called Martin County Water Warriors.
For more, check out this week’s issue of the Harrodsburg Herald.
Great job people it to bad this is happening my family and I will bring water soon keep up the good work