Coal Rush

"Filmed over 5 years in the coalfields of West Virginia, COAL RUSH follows the relentless battle for justice of a rural Appalachian community against a major coal company accused of polluting their drinking water. Husband-and-wife team of independent filmmakers LORENA LUCIANO and FILIPPO PISCOPO shine a spotlight on one of the worst (yet least publicized) industrial contamination disasters in the United States -- billions of gallons of coal waste dumped in the waterways and dwarfing the BP Gulf oil spill. Granted exclusive access by the legal team, and capturing with eloquent cinema verite'-style the local community's everyday life, the directors expose a serious case of environmental wrongdoing from all angles – including the coal company's standpoint -­ while bringing an important story of human suffering into focus. COAL RUSH offers an unprecedented look at some of the most pressing social and environmental issues in America today – concerns over toxins in US tap water, rural poverty, corporate malfeasance, and government failings – through the universally-appealing story of a highly controversial legal saga.