Thank goodness for
Dennis Kucinich. He has introduced to Congress the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act. It is heartening to know that there are members of
Congress who are trying to help people and that there are 13 cosponsors for
this bill.
The
Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act (H.R. 5959) simply makes the
commonsensical requirement that before more West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee,
and Kentucky mountaintops are blown apart for their coal, the health
implications of the residents around those mines need to be understood.
We
currently do not have a comprehensive understanding of the health effects of
mountaintop removal. Only ten investigators study the relationship between this
type of mining and public health.[i]
There is nonetheless
reason for concern. Recent evidence points to mountaintop mining as the root of
many health problems for the residents of Appalachia. Among the recent
investigations were a toxicologist and an associate professor in the department
of Community Medicine at West Virginia University who found learning
disabilities, kidney stones, tooth loss, diarrhea, rash, and some forms of
cancer in individuals living close to MTR operations.[ii]
Using GIS mapping techniques, a team of health professionals and geographers
found higher rates of circulatory, respiratory, central nervous system,
musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and urogenital birth defects in areas close
to mountaintop removal.[iii]
Kucinich’s
bill would require a detailed review of these, and possibly other, health risks
to be conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Mountaintop
removal would be suspended until the research is completed. If the research
finds no health risks, then mountaintop mining could resume.
As
I said before, this is commonsensical. The FDA requires that new drugs be
proven safe before doctors can prescribe them. And product safety is part of
the process of other consumer goods hitting the market. Shouldn’t we do the
same for the people who live around the mountaintop mines?
[i] Holzman, David C. “Mountaintop Removal
Mining.” Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 119, Issue 11 11/1/2011 electronic journal
[iii] Ahearn, Melissa M. et at. “The association
between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central
Appalachia, 1996–2003.” Environmental Research Vol. 111 Issue 6. Aug 2011, p 838-846 electronic journal
