Posts Tagged ‘Health’
Appalachia’s Contested History
By Bill Kovarik It has been 50 years since Harry Caudill wrote “Night Comes to the Cumberlands,” a landmark history that rejected stereotypes of Appalachian people as backward hillbillies and described the ruthless exploitation they suffered. The book spoke with eloquence to the American conscience and set off a firestorm of controversy. Within a year,…
Read MoreWorkers Exposed to Toxins at Kingston Ash Spill Cleanup
By Kimber Ray A federal lawsuit alleges that Jacobs Engineering Group knowingly exposed workers to toxic substances during cleanup of the 2008 coal fly ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tenn. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 22, claims Jacobs Engineering deliberately misrepresented the health hazards of fly ash, failed to…
Read MoreA Legislative Lesson in Taking the Easy Way Out
In the midst of allegations against Duke Energy for coal ash pollution at multiple coal-fired plants, a bill in the North Carolina House of Representatives could give polluters a free pass and build a buffer against lawsuits. Already passed by the N.C. Senate, the Regulatory Reform Act of 2013 (S 612) proposes a “boundary loophole”…
Read MoreEPA’s Benefits Greatly Outweigh Costs, According to OMB Report
By Davis Wax Editorial assistant, Spring/Summer 2013 During their push to abolish, obstruct and stymie the Environmental Protection Agency over the past few years, House Republicans have beleaguered the agency for regulatory measures they consider “job-killing” or “anti-industry,” hoping to revert federal environmental regulation to state control or make protections obsolete altogether. Those in favor…
Read MoreEnergy Report Shorts
OSM Approves Expansion of Appalachia’s Largest Slurry Impoundment The Federal Office of Surface Mining recently approved an expansion of the Brushy Fork impoundment in West Virginia — one of the largest slurry disposal sites in the country — to hold two billion more gallons of the waste produced from washing coal. Unless the West Virginia…
Read MoreStop Brushing off the Bad Stuff
West Virginia University professor and public health researcher Dr. Michael Hendryx’s latest article, “Personal and Family Health in Rural Areas of Kentucky With and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining,” appeared in the online Journal of Rural Health a couple of days ago. The study immediately gained the attention of Kentucky media, and supporters of the coal…
Read MoreCanvassing Against Coal Ash
Last Saturday, the Red, White and Water team traveled to Belmont, N.C., to the G.G. Allen Steam Station for a day of canvassing. Walking door-to-door, we asked residents of the communities near the coal-fired power plant if they had been impacted by water pollution. I met Archie Dixon, who was featured in the Gaston Gazette…
Read MoreLesson Learned: The Buffalo Creek Flood
I woke up this morning to a frozen world. Fog and ice descended on the hills above Boone, N.C., last night and are still waiting around for the thaw. It was silent other than the periodic crack of a branch and the following echo that bounced around the hills. Stepping outside after reading Ken Ward…
Read MoreVirginia Transportation Board OKs Coalfields Expressway Project
Yesterday, Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board approved a four-lane divided highway that will flatten steep mountain ridges in southwest Virginia along a route proposed by Alpha Natural Resources — the largest coal company operating in Appalachia today. The proposed 26-mile Coalfields Expressway is only a few miles off of several less destructive routes studied by the…
Read More“I’m Here Because I Love Mountains:” Watch a speech by Appalachian Voices’ JW Randolph
On Feb. 8, Appalachian Voices Tennessee Director, JW Randolph, spoke to members of the state legislature, the media and the environmental community. Below is a video and the transcript of his speech in support of the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to protect the state’s virgin ridgelines from mountaintop removal coal mining. Hello,…
Read More