Kentucky representative leads Congressional hearing on dangers of mountaintop removal

Studies have shown that mountaintop removal in Appalachia hurts fish populations, causes damage to streams, has damaged the landscape and has been linked to depression among local residents. The Supreme Court earlier this year even upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's veto of a permit for a huge mountaintop removal project in West Virginia.

While scientists, environmentalists and local residents have criticized the practice and called for an end to mountaintop removal, the government has done little to attempt to fix the problem or to even understand it, said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), who participated in a Congressional hearing on Wednesday. "Despite more than 20 peer-reviewed studies showing correlations between increased health risks and mountaintop removal mining, the federal government has yet to conduct a single study on the health consequences of the practice in which coal operators use heavy machinery and explosives to remove upper levels of mountains and access coal seams beneath," Yarmuth said on his website.  "These operations often result in contamination of surrounding land and water supplies."

In January the House included pro-coal measures in its budget and in March moved to block new rules that would protect streams from mountaintop removal mining.

Yarmuth previously introduced H.R. 526, the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act, "which would halt permits for mountaintop removal mining operations until the federal government can study its health impacts on nearby communities and declare the practice safe," says his website. "According to recent peer-reviewed research, people living near mountaintop removal coal mining sites have increased rates of cancer, birth defects, and mortality. Additionally, an analysis in the journal Science found communities near mountaintop removal coal mining sites experience higher rates of chronic heart, lung and kidney disease, as well as higher levels of adult hospitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hypertension." (Read more) (YouTube video)