Whitesburg Water Safe to Drink Again

Letcher County residents can once again drink the water after state officials declared it safe from a petroleum leak.  Earlier this week, officials discovered waste oil seeping into the North Fork of the Kentucky River,  near the city of Whitesburg’s water plant intake.  The Division of Water immediately warned residents not to drink the water or use it at all, and local schools were closed.  Now, Division spokeswoman Allison Fleck says the source of the contamination may have been an illegal dump.“It is evidently a site of waste oil disposal which is under investigation.  And it is likely it will be pursued in legal channels," Fleck says.Fleck says she expects to announce any legal action against those responsible for the contamination within a few days.