Sludge (film)
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Sludge is a 2005 documentary film by Appalshop filmmaker Robert Salyer chronicling the Martin County Sludge Spill that was an accident that occurred after midnight on October 11, 2000 when a coal sludge impoundment in Martin County, Kentucky, broke through an underground mine below, propelling 306 million gallons of sludge down two tributaries of the Tug Fork River. The movie documents the continuing story of the Martin County disaster, the resulting federal investigation, and the looming threat of coal sludge ponds throughout the coalfield region.
In the United States today, coal is the largest single source of fuel for energy production. Annually, the country mines over a billion tons of coal. Coal waste is a consequence of this insatiable consumption. The Mine Safety and Health Administration has estimated that there are over 235 sludge ponds throughout the region with the potential to break into an underground mine, as the Martin County pond did in 2000.
Sludge is a story of the residents and communities in the coalfields, but it is also a look behind the curtain: a story of the overseers and regulators responsible for health and safety and the agencies and departments that house them
Sludge reveals the hidden cost of America’s coal production and the penalty exacted upon the people of the Appalachian mountains in exchange for cheap electricity.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Sludge Website for the 2005 documentary about the Martin County Sludge Spill
- SLUDGE SLINGING Article about mining engineer Jack Spadaro who has dedicated his life to preventing coal sludge spills
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