Many peer-reviewed studies have shown that living near a large-scale surface mine increases health risks, but a new report produced by the left-leaning Human Rights Watch "draws attention to the ways that science has been suppressed, and how the costs of dealing with the mining’s health risks shifted from industry to communities," Sydney Boles reports for Ohio Valley Resource., a nonprofit radio news collaborative serving Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Some of the report's key points:
- A 2016 rule meant to protect streams from surface-mine pollution was jettisoned by Congress as one of its first acts under the Trump administration; that was the first of an "avalanche" of deregulation on coal mines.
- Trump and his administration have appointed industry lobbyists and insiders to top regulatory positions, in effect putting the industry in charge of regulating itself.
- The Interior Department canceled a study it had funded assessing the potential health impacts of strip mining (in a previous item we noted that an Interior official repeatedly met with coal-industry lobbyists but almost no conservation lobbyists before canceling the study).
- Health experts consulted for the report said that other factors such as high levels of poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, smoking and obesity in areas near strip mines undoubtedly contribute to residents' poor health, but said the pollution from coal mining may worsen health problems.
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