PRENTER – Smiling faces greeted delivery drivers and volunteers this past week as the first barrels of fresh water were delivered to residents near the town of Prenter.

Organizers of the Prenter Water Fund said 150 55-gallon barrels were delivered to area residents at Prenter. The barrels were purchased using grant money, according to organizers. In total, 8,250 gallons of clean, drinkable water were delivered. Still, organizers say, there is a need for more water.

“We have a whole list of people who want the barrels – from here at Sand Lick all the way to Main Camp Prenter,” organizer Maria Lambert told the Coal Valley News.

It took driver, Curtis Adkins, a little more than 50 hours to fill up all the barrels and organizers say it may or may not take that same amount of time to do the next fill-up unless additional barrels are found.

Lambert says that people now understand that they can stop giving their money to companies who sell pre-bottled water. “It will also cut down on trash in the land fills,” she noted.

Lambert, a resident in the Prenter area, said she appreciates the fact that the County Commission has given the Prenter community the use of the spigot at the Racine Community Center, but says it is so much more convenient to have barrels.

Approximately 300 families near Prenter have bad water.

The Boone County Commission is working with officials from the West Virginia American Water Co. to run water lines from Seth to the Prenter area, but construction is estimated to be at least one year away.

Even with the barrels, more than 200 families will still be stuck with groundwater that is unfit for consumption, according to documented health reports.

Several area residents believe slurry injections and blasting from nearby mining contaminated Prenter's groundwater and well water, leading to high rates of health problems, such as documented gallbladder and kidney disease.

Not all residents in or near Prenter believe their water is bad to drink, nor do they agree with the reported coverage of the water problem at Prenter.

Harrison Jackson told the Coal Valley News that anyone residing beyond Main Camp Prenter should not consider themselves residents of Prenter. As such, he says, “If you don’t live somewhere, keep your mouth shut.”

The reported water complaints, he says, have nothing to do with Prenter and the water coming out of the spigots of residents at Main Camp Prenter. “Those down below Prenter, have hand drilled wells,” he said.

Jackson is also not enthusiastic about the possibility of a water line reaching Prenter from the neighboring town of Seth.

“We have so many old people that live in Prenter that they can’t afford to have the water line put in there,” he said.

To donate to the organization, visit www.prenterwaterfund.org or send a check to Prenter Water Fund, c/o Coal River Mountain Watch, P.O. Box 651, Whitesville, WV 25209.

Contact Joanie Newman at jnewman@coalvalleynews.com or call 304-369-1165.