Forty families in Connoquenessing Township are without potable water. Duquesne University professor John Stolz has determined, through lengthy and ongoing research, that some sort of geological disruption has caused toxic substances from old coal mines in the area to flow into the groundwater of the Woodlands neighborhood, contaminating the water supplies of 40 families. Some of these families have been without clean water for four years.

A handful of churches and businesses have reached out to help. One church set up a water bank where these families could receive bottled water for their daily needs — only a fraction of what the Red Cross estimates is necessary.

On Aug. 24, the water bank was forced to close because of a drastic fall-off in donations.

Early on in the Woodlands saga, the drilling industry was implicated as a plausible culprit in the contamination of these water wells. Using incomplete water test data (the infamous Suite Code 942), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection exonerated the drillers. County and local officials proffered a few inadequate remedies, then walked away and left residents to fend for themselves.

But the sociological damage had been done. The drillers had been implicated, and we all know that nobody wants to get involved in controversies involving the drillers: the “goose that lays the golden eggs” — it’s bad for business.

So churches and businesses have turned away in droves from this drama of human suffering occurring in our own back yard. If it had been a flood or tornado that had caused this suffering, relief aid would have been sudden and swift. These families would have had clean water for the past three years at least, instead of having gone without it for four. But because the drillers were implicated early on, businesses and churches don’t want to get involved.

Butler County communities pride themselves in being Christian communities. I’d like to appeal to that Christian spirit. Stop worrying about offending gas interests. We’re talking about human beings who have gone without drinking water for four years.

Think about it and open your wallets, give of your time, do whatever it takes to make sure these people have clean water.

It doesn’t matter how it happened. Like so much else in this sad chapter, it will no doubt all be sorted out in the courts eventually. But for now, these people need our help.

Please help these people. Donations can be made at the Water for Woodlands website or through White Oak Springs Presbyterian Church in Renfrew.