I'm Afraid of That Water

On January 9th 2014 residents across Charleston West Virginia awoke to an unusual liquorice smell in the air and a similar taste in the public drinking water. That evening residents were informed that the tap water in tens of thousands of homes hundred of businesses and dozens of schools and hospitals - the water made available to as many as 30000 citizens in a nine-county region - had been contaminated with a chemical used for cleaning crushed coal. This books tells a particular set of stories about that chemical spill and its aftermath an unfolding water crisis that would lead to months even years of fear and distrust. It is both oral history and collaborative ethnography jointly conceptualised researched and written by people - more than fifty in all - across various positions in academia and local communities. I''m Afraid of That Water foregrounds the ongoing concerns of West Virginians (and people in comparable situations in places like Flint Michigan) confronted by the problem of contamination where thresholds for official safety may be crossed but a genuine return to normality is elusive.