Reaching your neighbors

Pipeline leak fuels Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School community outreach

Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School (KML), one of WELS 23 area Lutheran high schools, sits right on the edge of a contamination area caused by pipeline leak near Jackson, Wis. The pipe cracked in July and leaked approximately 1,300 barrels of gasoline into the ground, which has since been found to have affected 220 private wells to varying degrees. Many neighborhood residents can’t use the water in their homes.

After a couple weeks and a growing area of contamination, the teachers and staff at KML decided to use what would have been their faculty picnic to serve their affected neighbors. Mr. David Bartelt, KML superintendent, said people in the area were nervous and beginning to feel angst. “Our mission is to encourage one another and to serve, and it was a good thing that we were able to reach out and bring our community onto our campus and use our resources to try to give them comfort,” says Bartelt.

Bartelt says the school was able to organize the event in two days. West Shore Pipe Line Company, which owns the pipe that leaked, provided cases upon cases of bottled water to be handed out, and the Piggly Wiggly in Jackson and Sysco Foods helped by supplying some of the food. In addition, Christian Aid and Relief offered to help defray costs.

“Christ has been so good to us and it is our joy to be good to our neighbors,” says Bartelt. “To be good neighbors, to live our Christian mission makes a big impression on our neighbors. We want to be part of the neighborhood, so that they know they’ve got a high school that serves them.”

While KML’s well has so far tested safe, it will continue to undergo weekly testing for an undetermined amount of time.