Mountain Top Removal Linked to Cancer

"As more than 60,000 cancer cases has been estimated to correlate with MTM [mountaintop removal] activities in West Virginia, this finding on the cancer promoting effect of [particulate matter] and related epidemiological data are crucial to raise public health awareness to reduce cancer risk," the study's authors write. [Climate Progress]

The study, published this week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, looks at the carcinogenic potential of the particulate matter that enters the air during mountaintop removal mining, a form of surface mining that blasts the tops of mountains away so that underground coal reserves can be accessed. The study found "new evidence" that breathing in this particulate matter over an extended period of time can lead to lung cancer, confirming previous research that has found increased cases of lung cancer in communities that live near coal mining operations in Appalachia. That research noted that smoking rates in these communities are likely also contributing to the lung cancer risk, making exposure to mining operations only one of the variables involved, but this week's research confirms, for the first time, that dust from mining operations can drive up a person's risk of lung cancer.

"It's a risk factor, with other risk factors, that increases the risks of getting lung cancer," study co-author and West Virginia University cancer researcher Yon Rojanasakul told the Charleston Gazette. "That's what the results show."

The researchers exposed lung cells to dust from mountaintop removal operations over a three-month period. They found that the dust had "cell-transforming and tumor-promoting effects" — it led to certain changes in the cells that promoted lung cancer development.

Mountaintop Removal Reprieve

PNC Bank, the top funder of Mountain Top Removal (MTR), has announced an end to its support for the ecologically devastating practice.

Before this decision, PNC provided financing for six of the biggest MTR coal mining companies — Massey, Arch Coal, Patriot Coal, Alpha, International Coal Group, and CONSOL — who were responsible for nearly half of all mountaintop removal mining in 2009.

"This move makes PNC bank number seven to issue a position on MTR," the Rainforest Action Network's Amanda Starbuck writes, "following in the footsteps of Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse." PNC's decision leaves UBS and GE Capital the only major banks that support mountaintop removal. After the Bush administration rewrote rules to encourage the blowing up of mountains for their coal, the Appalachians were rapidly reshaped by rapacious coal companies. 


This year, the Obama administration once again began enforcing laws against the total destruction of public waters and land, after scientists revealed the full extent of the immoral practice. Now, PNC Bank will neither fund MTR projects nor make loans to companies like Massey Energy that specialize in MTR.

EPA puts the brakes on Mountain Top Removal

EPA puts the brakes on Mountain Top Removal

Takes an Important Step to Protect America's Waterways From Coal Mining Waste

WASHINGTON (September 11, 2009) -- In a step toward protecting America's waterways from mining waste, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it will continue to review the permits of 79 proposed surface coal-mining projects in Appalachian states. The EPA stated that it will work with the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act and the protection of the nation's public health and environment.

Following is a statement by Rob Perks, Campaign Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council:

"The EPA is taking welcome steps to protect Appalachia from the hazardous impacts of mountaintop removal mining, one of coal industry's most dirty and destructive activities. The EPA should not permit mining operations based on regulatory loopholes and lax enforcement practices that have allowed streams in the Southeast to be treated as waste dumps.

"The people in Appalachia deserve to have clean streams, rivers, and waterways -- and it's up to the EPA to look out for their interests. We expect the EPA and the Corps to follow-up with the necessary actions to halt the practice of mountain removal mining and protect America's waterways."

I sent a note to the White House thanking them for their action on this issue.

You can as well by clicking here.

RFK Jr. Testimony on Mountain Top Removal

Starting at 3:10 in this video testimony before Congress (last December), Robert F Kennedy Jr., states the issues regarding mountain top removal as clearly as anyone I have ever heard.

Consider that coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths as the industry provides to the region in jobs, taxes and other economic benefits. This is according to a new study which finds that coal is more a curse than blessing for the region.

"Coal-mining economies are not strong economies," said West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx, who co-authored the study. He added that coalfield communities "are weaker than the rest of the state, weaker than the rest of the region, and weaker than the rest of the nation."