A long-running issue in Marshall County made itself present again at a recent fiscal court meeting when a concerned citizen asked for access to cleaner water.
Heather Adams asked the court, specifically county commissioner Bob Gold, for support for her neighborhood. Adams showed the court a picture of a yellow glass of water, telling them that when she had her well tested the bacteria was off the charts.
Gold was in Frankfort Thursday advocating for her cause. Gold said “it’s a difficult situation” as more than 700 homes in Marshall County are in need of potable water. Gold said he spoke to Senator Danny Carroll and Representative Will Coursey.
“I told them today that there are organizations that are working everyday to get clean drinking water to people all over the world, but we can’t seem to get clean drinking water to people in our county.” Gold said.
Fixing the wells and water lines has an estimated cost of $10 million dollars. Gold said he is looking for ways to find funding and says there will have to be effort from the state and possibly the federal level to fix the issue.
Environmental Health Director with The Marshall County Health Department Juli Connor said beyond administering well testing, fixing the issue is outside their jurisdiction. She said the problem is largely due to old wells, and that wells are ultimately up to the owner to maintain.
Gold said the funds set aside for Water Vision 2020 has diminished, and said he “doesn’t see being able to get it back.” Water Vision 2020 was a state funded mandate that issued that every person in Kentucky must have access to clean drinking water by the year 2020.
