Moving Mountains Tragedy 2014: Stunning Court Denial of Appalachian Health Crisis
Jeff Biggers, Journalist/Historian
08/22/2014

In a breathtaking but largely overlooked ruling this week, a federal judge agreed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may disregard studies on the health impacts of mountaintop removal mining in its permitting process, only two weeks after Goldman Prize Award-winning activist Maria Gunnoe wrote an impassioned plea to President Obama to renew withdrawn funding for US Geological Survey research on strip mining operations and redouble federal action to address the decades-old humanitarian disaster.

The prophetic call for immediate federal action by Gunnoe, a community organizer for the West Virginia-based Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and a long-time witness to the tragedy of mountaintop removal, has never been so timely. "Appalachian citizens are the casualties of a silent "war on people" who live where coal is extracted," Gunnoe wrote the president. "Citizens of all ages are dying for the coal industry's bottom line." Gunnoe concluded:

We all must recognize and resolve these mountaintop-removal-caused health problems and end the onslaught of pollution on people. Ending mountaintop removal could be as simple as passing HR 526: the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act, or possibly even an Executive Order. The ACHE Act will place a moratorium on all new mountaintop removal permits. This bill, when passed, will immediately improve the lives and health of the people who live with these impacts daily...

..."Our state politicians display a willful ignorance of some 24 peer-reviewed scientific reports about mountaintop removal's human health effects," Gunnoe wrote. "Studies show a correlation between living near a mountaintop removal site and significantly increased rates of cancer, birth defects and premature deaths. We believe they'd have a much harder time ignoring studies put out by the USGS."....

MORE at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/moving-mountains-tragedy_b_5700980.html

Appalachian Voices
Obama pulls the plug on mountaintop removal study
Posted by Thom Kay
July 28, 2014

There are over 20 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrating a link between mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia and severe health impacts. Dozens of researchers have found correlations between proximity to mountaintop removal mines and elevated rates of cancer, birth defects, and respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.

For those of you paying attention to the issue, none of this is news.

What should have been news was a groundbreaking study from the U.S. Geological Survey showing a causal link between mountaintop removal mining activities and specific types of air pollution which are causing some of these health problems. USGS researchers had been working on collecting data for the past two years, and according to USGS chemist Bill Orem, the “data is pretty startling.” According to Orem, the data is “compelling enough that a more targeted health study needs to be conducted in these areas.”

But the Obama administration pulled the plug on the research, and did so very quietly, redirecting funding to other work. The Obama administration had an opportunity to do something big to end mountaintop removal, but stopped short....

MORE at http://appvoices.org/2014/07/28/obama-pulls-the-plug-on-mountaintop-removal-study/

There are many things that I like about President Obama, but he has been extraordinarily disappointing on his environmental record. I know he's not the only one. You will find few politicians from either party willing to go against the coal industry in Kentucky. I guess the residents put at risk from mining just don't give enough in campaign donations to rate any kind of consideration.

I've tried to tell folks before but don't think they really get it. You're simply not going to get elected to any office in WV or KY by speaking out against the industry and that clout extends all the way to Washington. I wasn't as hopeful about candidate Obama in this regard (environmentally), as I had researched his ties to the mining industry in Illinois even before he became President. Yet, when I posted that research to DU folks turned a deaf ear.

So what chance do the people of Appalachia have when they can see all too well for themselves that the game is rigged? There are many good people out their fighting the good fight but I fear the government will only let them go so far.