WV WaterLink - A tool for democratizing water governance and mapping water security and water injustice in the Mountain State

The West Virginia Water Security Profile provides a snapshot of demographic and socioeconomic vulnerability of WV's communities seen through the lens of safe (or not safe) drinking water and flood vulnerability.

The figures to the right show county-level human health violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) seen by (top) socioeconomic level and race (bottom). 

To explore your county's profile, see the WV WaterLink webpage located here - https://www.wvwaterlink.com/

This work is a collaboration of the MHL and the WVU Center for Resilient Communities, a learning laboratory, field station, experimental space and makeshop for action research and community transformation.

Environmental [In]Justice Cases in WV and Beyond

Working with undergraduate and graduate students at WVU, the MHL has been researching and documenting cases of environmental justice in the Mountain State and beyond. Please see below as we add new cases. Furthermore, these cases will be archived in EJAtlas - Global Atlas of Environmental Justice. If you are aware of undocumented or under-documented cases of environmental injustices in WV and the region, please contact us using the MHL 'Contact' page.

Nitro, WV -  Residents in Nitro (Kanawha and Putnam Co.) have a long history of being exposed to PCBs, mercury, and dioxin leaked from the Monsanto chemical plant that has polluted the air and water. Learn more here 

Keystone, WV -  With one of the largest concentrations of African Americans in WV, residents lack access to clean and reliable drinking water with a continuous 'Boil Advisory' resulting from failures to meet standards under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Learn more here

Minden, WV - A once thriving small coal town in Appalachia was turned into an extreme environmental contamination site from high levels of PCBs associated with manufacturing of transformers and capacitors. Arbuckle Creek, a small stream that drains through the contaminated soils, drains in to the New River, one of the US newest national parks. Lear more here