Christian Appalachian Project - In what is being considered one of the worst disasters in Kentucky’s history, the Christian Appalachian Project, a non-profit service organization, is mobilizing efforts to assist with emergency water relief to the effected areas. A massive coal waste spill has polluted the waterways in a large section of eastern Kentucky and forced two public water treatment plants to shut down.
Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) works with the people of Appalachia through crisis intervention, education and community development. With this in mind, the largest charity in eastern Kentucky organized efforts to transport between thirteen  truckloads of fresh bottled water into their Hagerhill warehouse, combating the sludge disaster, impacting people in a number of counties.
One CAP program in particular, Operation Sharing, serves with gifts-in-kind distribution, throughout all thirteen states comprising the Appalachian region. The Hagerhill warehouse will become command central for the water distribution and semi-trucks will be rolling with the fresh supplies for the effected counties.
“Within a day of learning about the potential water shortage these folks would face, we actively solicited drinkable water for those effected by the slurry spill,” stated Johnny Thompson, Assistant Director of Operation Sharing.
“By partnering with AmeriCares, an international relief organization, specializing in both natural and man-made disaster relief, we will be able to make a much greater impact in distribution,” continued Thompson. AmeriCares worked with CAP in previous years during flood, and storm disasters in suppling necessary materials of relief.
At the origin of the disaster in Martin County and the city of Inez, 14,000 people had their water supply effected, according to Judge Executive-Lon Lafferty. This number translated into 4,500 households that were guaranteed six gallons of fresh water. CAP will continue to supply Martin county with the valuable resource of water throughout the crisis, as well as the surrounding counties.