Dr. Jason Marion and students sample well water in Eastern Kentucky to assess environmental risks

“Knowing we are helping people increase their knowledge about something that
impacts them daily is the most amazing and rewarding feeling I’ve ever had,” said
senior Environmental Health Science major Josh Ruehl, from Richmond, who has
joined Dr. Jason Marion, an assistant professor of Environmental Health Science in
testing heavy metal concentrations in Kentucky wells. Over this summer, Ruehl and five other students worked with Dr. Marion to quantify the levels of selected
metals in 200 household well water and spring water samples in far Southeast Kentucky, focusing on arsenic, lead, manganese and several other contaminants. The team already spent many hours collecting samples from households and in front of approved store locations in Manchester, Hazard, Whitesburg, and Harlan.
This project is being funded by the Center for Appalachian Regional Engagement
and Stewardship (CARES) at EKU and their sample results can be viewed upon request.

Published on August 13, 2013