Silica dust is behind a dramatic increase in the number of miners becoming ill with the most severe form of black lung disease.
The Appalachian Voice
Silica dust is behind a dramatic increase in the number of miners becoming ill with the most severe form of black lung disease.
As Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., pursues plans to begin producing refined uranium in Erwin, Tenn., local environmental and safety advocates are objecting.
As remediation of the troubled Bristol landfill begins, community advocates are petitioning for an alert system, increased air quality monitoring and relief measures for residents who experience strong airborne pollution at home.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently classified northern long-eared bats as endangered, which could help save the species most impacted by the deadly fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome.
A look at our recycling systems reveals less of our plastic is actually being recycled than one might think.
The wood pellet industry is growing in the American South, but communities near wood pellet plants are seeing damages to air and water quality. As new facility proposals from wood pellet companies like Enviva continue, local residents and regional climate activists are speaking out.
In Walnut Cove — a community whose history has been tainted by coal ash for decades — The Lilies Project has turned coal ash into art, and is expanding to encompass the town’s story beyond coal ash.
Miners with black lung disease face a difficult process to obtain modest benefits, as do their widows. Two bills in Congress aim to help miners with the disease and their bereaved families, including by tying benefit levels to inflation.
Kathryn South’s husband, Mike South, was diagnosed with black lung disease at age 35. As they grappled with his disease, the couple also navigated the arduous legal process to obtain federal black lung benefits, a fight that Kathryn continued even after Mike’s passing.
Luke Manget, author of the book “Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia,” discusses the complex and impactful history of ginseng and root digging.