FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear announced today his office is taking a new look at the Martin County Water District.

The utility has been under investigation by the Public Service Commission for over two years. That effort has been probing into the Martin County Water’s longstanding history of problems with water quality and loss.

Beshear, however, is launching his own independent investigation, which will be conducted by his office’s criminal division and office of rate intervention. In a statement released this afternoon, Beshear said his office would cooperate with the PSC, but would also look at the utility’s past and present management and operations.

Beshear’s announcement comes in response to a letter from Martin County Concerned Citizens and the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, in which they alleged gross financial mismanagement and misuse of public funds.

Beshear’s full statement: “The Attorney General’s Office is opening an inquiry into the past and present management and operations of the Martin County Water District. Handling the inquiry for the office will be the Department of Criminal Investigations and the Office of Rate Intervention. The inquiry will be independent from but will seek to work with the Public Service Commission action.”