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In the previous article, the authors described the 300 million gallon coal waste spill in Martin County, Kentucky and the interviews that they had with thirty-two area residents in the aftermath of the release (Scott, McSpirit, Hardesty, and Welch 2004 --this issue). Many of these interviewees charged MCCC-Massey and federal, state, and local government with incompetence, corruption, and an inability (or unwillingness) to clean up the spill, monitor the spill's impact on the local watershed and environment, and/or protect public health and safety. Yet as they acknowledged in the end, such semiprivate criticisms may indeed be important, but the political effects will remain relatively minimal unless they are also articulated publicly and directed toward some form of civic action. In this next piece, the authors focus instead on some of the more public forms of activism that occurred in Martin County after the coal waste release of October 2000. (Contains 40 notes.)

This research note describes two simultaneous events: The Martin County coal waste disaster of October 2000 and our own research efforts in Martin County, Kentucky, in studying the effects of the disaster on the impacted community. Our research was unique in that we involved a large team of undergraduate students in our field and data collections efforts. We also applied more democratic and participatory methods than has been typical in the "techno-disasters" research. We believe that our expanded method has allowed us to glean insights and understanding into the effects and political dynamics of the Martin County coal waste disaster. In this note, we report some of our findings from both our field interviews and survey data. As in other case studies, we found high levels of blame and distrust of the coal company and of federal and state agencies. Much of this deep citizen distrust, as we came to learn, was due to EPA yielding power of jurisdiction to the responsible party. Many citizens simply distrusted the risk assessments and water test data being put forward by the coal company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents interviews with the citizens of Martin County, Kentucky conducted as part of a study following a coal waste disaster that occurred in October 2000. Martin County Coal Co. is the operator of the impoundment which released millions of gallons of toxic coal sludge and coal waste onto Coldwater and Wolf Creeks. Respondents express their distrust in the local government in terms of its role in disaster response. It cites several reviews conducted by regulatory agencies at both the federal and state levels regarding factors associated with the disaster.