Small Town, Big Struggles

09/02/20 • 30 min

Today we leave the big cities behind and ask: How does rural America manage its water infrastructure? After all, one in five U.S. households isn’t connected to a sewer system. We visit the rolling mountains of Letcher County, Kentucky. There, in the early 1900s, coal mining firms built company towns with little attention to long-term infrastructure. Decades later, local residents are dealing with the consequences. We hear from former coal miner Carroll Smith about his push in the 1990s to bring clean drinking water and safe wastewater disposal to communities across the county. And we learn where he ran into challenges.

Guests:

Upmanu Lall, Director of the Columbia Water Center at Columbia University

Carroll Smith, former Judge Executive of Letcher County, Kentucky

Allan Tuggle, retired miner

Edna McBee, Millstone resident

Mark Lewis, General Manager, Letcher County Water and Sewer District

Photo: Britta Greene

Guests:

Upmanu Lall, Director of the Columbia Water Center at Columbia University

Carroll Smith, former Judge Executive of Letcher County, Kentucky

Allan Tuggle, retired miner

Edna McBee, Millstone resident

Mark Lewis, General Manager, Letcher County Water and Sewer District

Photo: Britta Greene

Previous Episode

Poison Pipes

Clean water can get contaminated on its way to your faucet. In America, more than 9 million lead service lines connect city water to individual homes (and apartments), leaving millions of people vulnerable to potentially harmful doses of lead. Retired EPA scientist — and Flint whistleblower — Miguel Del Toral shows us lead pipes unearthed from his property in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood and explains why they're no longer considered safe. And we talk to a Milwaukee father, who stumbled upon this lesson with his young son.

→ Read APM Reports’ investigation
→ Read Del Toral’s memorandum on Flint

Guests: