Educational Media Reviews Online

On October 11, 2000 over 306 gallons of black, stinky, toxic, sludge broke from a coal company retaining pond into an underground mine and inundated the nearby Kentucky community. This spill, 30 times larger than Exxon Valdez, flooded two tributaries of the Tug Fork River in Martin County, Kentucky. In some places, the coal slurry was up to ten feet deep.

The Appalshop documentary Sludge tells the story of this disaster from the point of view of the people who live in the environmentally damaged area. Local teachers, newspaper reporters, community activists, and coal company executives share their varied perspectives on the disaster. Excerpts from government hearings and community press conferences are used along with individual interviews.

Sludge is a powerful documentary that presents a definite political viewpoint. Although the coal company is given time to express their side, the predominant view of most of the documentary’s participants is that the coal company and the United States Government have ignored the safety of the people of Appalachia for the sake of short term company profits. Certainly, the curious firing of outspoken MSHA official, Jack Spardaro, who participated in the government investigation of responsibility for the disaster, is indicative of a cover- up and pandering to company interests. Moreover, the $110,000 punitive fine for Martin County Coal was reduced to a mere $5,600 by the Bush Administration.

Sludge is a very well constructed documentary. It uses “on location” interviews, television footage, and close-ups of local political cartoons and illustrative graphics to tell the story of this major environmental disaster. Editing is fast paced and exciting with scenes changing every few minutes. These edited scenes build to a powerful and unexpected climax. Sound and color are clear and unobtrusive. I particularly liked the original musical score that added the right emotional tone to the program. I also greatly enjoyed the video outtakes that were available as an extra feature on the DVD. They were valuable and appeared to only be deleted for the sake of brevity.

As one Kentucky reporter says: “there is no such thing as cheap energy or clean coal.” At present, there are over 230 coal slurry retaining ponds all over Appalachia. Most are all on high ground overlooking more populated areas. It is only a matter of time before the next environmental disaster. Sludge seems to be asking the question-- can the next tragedy be prevented?

Sludge should be in every high school, public, college and university library in the Appalachian region. I also recommend it for college and university libraries outside Appalachia. This program serves as an environmental warning and a testament to corporate greed and government corruption. It is highly recommended from the very heart of Appalachia, Morgantown, West Virginia.