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Monteea Childers, Business Owner, on a Better Response in Putnam County

Monteea, who had to close her dance studio during the water crisis, describes the disorganized response and different official responses in Putnam County and Kanawha County. She also describes her perspective on this crisis as a long-time resident of “Chemical Valley,” including the realities of living in an area where drinking water and swimming holes are frequently contaminated with chemicals. She believes that this contributes to the high cancer rate in her area.

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Malissa Deweese on Transporting Water

Malissa talks about using a Teamsters semi-truck to help the National Guard make water deliveries, the difficulties of getting water to the people who need it most, her husband’s work as a county sheriff and National Guard member during the water crisis, her experiences with the water crisis announcement, and her feelings about West Virginians and how they’re responding to the crisis.

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Ronnie Matthews, Putnam County Circuit Clerk, Winfield

Ronnie speaks about his experience of the water crisis, his opinion on the regulations and procedures that should be implemented, and who is responsible for the chemical spill.

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Janice Faber, Owner of Winfield Quick Stop

In our business,the Winfield Quick Stop (Sunoco), we are unable to make coffee because the coffee makers are connected to the local water source, which the health department required us to discontinue using after the contamination. Saturday morning I called our wholesaler, Liberty USA. I spoke with Liz, the owner’s daughter, about our situation. I ask her to send us coffee makers that we could pour clean water into so we could have safe coffee. She had her warehouse manager to bring us two coffee makers, 30 cases of water, extra coffee, & cups. They pulled through for us & we greatly appreciated them. We now have fresh, safe coffee for our community. Thank you Liberty USA!!!! Located In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We are serving free coffee at this time.

Steve Meeks, WV Department of Highways Worker, Liberty, Putnam County

Steve Meeks, who works for the West Virginia Department of Highways, talks about working the midnight shift for WVDOH. During the first midnight shift of the water crisis, he helped “about 25 people” fill jugs of water from a pump station.

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Sadara Leslie, Mother of Two, Hometown, Putnam County

Sadara talks about the challenges of finding water to make bottles for her toddler, concerns about the long-term health effects of the water crisis, knowing people who were hospitalized due to skin rashes,how the crisis affects small businesses that “can’t afford” the losses, and her thoughts on how the media is covering the water crisis.

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The Smell of the Water in Winfield

I filmed this video of the West Virginia Water Crisis yesterday afternoon. After you let the water run about ten seconds, the smell became so strong. It did smell like licorice or anise seed. It was overpowering. You can also see there are more bubbles than usual in tap water (there are always some because of the chemicals used in water treatment plants). But this water was fizzy.

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Krista Bryson, The Smell Outside in Winfield, WV

I took this video last night, Saturday, November 11 at the Winfield Quick Stop in Putnam County. The wind was blowing strong gusts of the “licorice” smell even though the spill was three days ago.

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Connie Lewis, Winfield, Putnam County

Connie Lewis of Winfield, West Virginia describes having to travel to relatives’ homes for showers, the shortage of paper products during a time when dishwashing is difficult and ill-advised, and having friends hospitalized due to the effects of the West Virginia water crisis.

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Larry Hayden, Former Coal Miner, Buffalo, Putnam County

Larry Hayden, a former coal miner living in Buffalo, West Virginia speaks his opinion on how the West Virginia Water Crisis is caused by a chemical spill that was commonplace in his time working in the coal mines of WV. Now he is worried that these past events have caused long-term pollution.

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