Mountain
Mourning Collection 
Mountaintop Removal is
Killing People!!!
The Evidence is Coming In...
Peer-reviewed
studies are beginning to roll in that confirm what coalfield activists have
suspected for a long time. That is, communities under the shadow of mountaintop
removal have much higher rates of serious health impairment and morbidity.
Yes, mountaintop removal looks
ugly. It drives out communities and their culture, degrades ecosystems,
increases the liklihood of flooding, and the practice divides people. Yet
there is worse. Mountaintop removal exudes toxic wastes into the air and
water, and these wastes are killing people.
For
the past several years, residents in areas with heavy mountaintop removal
have been worried about the high numbers of friends and neighbors afflicted
with cancer, asthma, kidney diseases, skin ailments, and other maladies.
Deaths are mounting from cancer, including many who are in their early years
of life. Government statistics now confirm the high rate of illnesses and
deaths that correlate remarkably with local coal production. Studies are
now ongoing to further diagnose the causality.
High rates of Birth Defects are now linked to Mountaintop Removal. A recent Peer-reviewed study concludes the correlation. Coal-fired power plants are already implicated as the highest emitter of mercury into the ecosystem, causing significant neurological damage to one in six babies. A nation with conscience cannot tolerate environmental pollution to "the least of these" (Matthew 25:31-46). Please urge your church to understand this as a crucial life issue!!!
For more information, see the following:
Activists Cry Out in Washington On Crisis of Health
Beyond Coal Campaign Exposes Health Risks to Communities
Save The Babies: High Birth Defect Rate in Mountaintop Removal Areas. (Dedicated FaceBook Site)
Professor
Michael Hendryx, et. al. Study on Birth Defects in Mountaintop Mining Communities
Study Finds Mountaintop Removal Communities Have a Very High Rate of Birth Defects
Coal Industry Blames Birth Defects on Appalachian Stereotype of Consanguinity
Jeff Biggers article in Huffington Post
Summary of Health Study on Correlation of MTR Communities and Impaired Health
