BIG BRANCH — Denise Howard doesn't want to leave her Pike County home where she's lived since 1995 but she may not have a choice.

Howard, 36, and her husband, Calvin, 37, have been without water since May when their well caught fire from methane from a nearby mine operated by Excel Mining, a subsidiary of Alliance Resource Partners. The well burns continuously and state inspectors have determined the well was “mine impacted.”

Under state law, Excel has to provide the Howards with emergency drinking water, which it has done. But Denise Howard said they conserve it because“we know now how precious water is.”They only use it for cooking, drinking water and brushing their teeth. They often go to family members’ homes to bathe and they go to a laundry to wash clothes.

The coal company must within two weeks provide the Howards with a temporary water supply, connected to their existing water system and plumbing. But Calvin Howard said all the pipes and fixtures have been destroyed by the water and will have to be replaced. Ultimately, the law requires the company to pay for a permanent fix. That’s not enough, said Ned Pillersdorf, a Prestonsburg attorney who has filed suit against Excel on behalf of the Howards, demanding the company compensate them for moving. National mining consultant Jack Spadaro has told Pillersdorf and the Howards it is not safe to stay in their home.

“We want the other side to make arrangements to move them out of there,” he said.

Eberley Davis, general counsel for Alliance Partners, declined to comment on the suit, citing the pending litigation.

The Howards are not alone — 12 other families along the Big Branch of Brushy Creek near the Martin and Floyd County lines are also wary of their drinking water. They complain of discolored fixtures and clothes and several have been advised not to drink the water or in some cases even to come into contact with it.

For months the families along Big Branch say they’ve heard underground explosions.

“There are these big thumps under my trailer,” said Eda Stacy, 70, who lives about a half mile up the road from the Howards. “It’d go like thunder when there weren’t no thunder.”

Stacy said she hasn’t dared drink her water for “more than three years,” and has been advised not to come into contact with it. She said tests have shown the water contains lead, iron, and arsenic. Like her neighbors, her plumbing fixtures have turned reddish orange — the water even destroyed a drain stopper in her bathroom.

“I cant even get in the tub — I have to take a sponge bath,” Stacy said.

Denise Howard's sister, Jessica Blevins and her husband, Mickey, a coal miner, live next door. Thursday, state inspectors were testing their well. Calvin Blevins said their daughter’s hair has been falling out and their son has been vomiting. Both are scheduled for medical tests. Other wells in the area have also been tested. Like Stacy, the Bevins have heard the underground “explosions” for months. Calvin Bevins said they went away after the Howards’ well “blew up, but they’ve started again. They sound like a big bass drum.”

Yet, Linda Potter, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources said tests performed on several other wells haven’t been impacted by mining even though they are in the same vicinity as the Howard well. “Several neighbors on Big Branch have complained about water quality,” Potter said. “All have been found non-impacted by mining. The lab results for the Bevins home (today’s sampling) have not been received.”

Thursday, Keeper Springs Natural Water, a company owned by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and two environmental groups, Appalachian Voices and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, delivered 30,000 bottles of drinking water to this remote community in the heart of mining country. Pike County Emergency Management donated a storage truck and its director, Doug Tackett, and his crew helped off-load the water.

Ted Withrow, a member of KFTC and a retired employee of the state Division of Water, learned of the well contaminations in July and contacted Donna Lisenby of Appalachian Voices to see if she could test water from the wells. She arranged for tests and also contacted Chris Bartle, president of Keeper Springs Natural Spring Water, about supplying the residents clean drinking water.

“Based on my direct, first hand experience with contamination of water by coal operations, I am deeply worried about the safety of the drinking water of these families,” said Withrow the former Big Sandy River Basin coordinator for the Kentucky Division of Water

“In all my 20 years of working on water quality problems, I have never seen a drinking water well catch on fire and burn continuously for days on end,” said Lisenby.

RONNIE ELLIS writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach him at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.