Mountaintop Removal Research Paper
Health Effects due to Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia
Mountaintop Removal is a process of coal mining that became popular in Appalachia in the 1970’s as a form of strip mining. Much like other forms of coal mining health effects were seen in the communities surrounding the towns that Mountaintop Removal was occurring in. Overtime, this form of coal mining has had deadly effects on the community causing cancer especially in the lungs and causing asthma in kids. These health effects are ruining these towns in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. I believe there needs to be more awareness for the health issues that are occurring in these towns. Coal mining is beneficial but not when it’s harming people with diseases like cancer. We need to find better alternatives for coal mining as coal is a major resource for the United States. My goal in this paper is to bring more awareness to these health conditions and how they are ruining communities in these states. Mountaintop Removal is a process of strip mining that is extremely dangerous to the environment. This process is done in multiple methods such as: cross-ridge mining, box-cut method, steep slope method, area method or mountaintop mining (Mountaintop Removal 101, appvoices.org). The first step …show more content…
This contaminates a whole community’s supply of water. In a study that was released in 2011, it showed that Appalachia communities had an increased rate of birth defects (Ahren, crmw.org). A lot more health issues began to become present as time went on. It’s been proven that people living near mountaintop removal sites have cancer rates of 14.4% compared to the 9.4% for people who live elsewhere in Appalachia (Hendryx, crmw.org). Due to the mountaintop being removed with explosives, air near the areas becomes contaminated due to the coal dust and other dirt entering the atmosphere and being breathed
Mountaintop Removal is a process of coal mining that became popular in Appalachia in the 1970’s as a form of strip mining. Much like other forms of coal mining health effects were seen in the communities surrounding the towns that Mountaintop Removal was occurring in. Overtime, this form of coal mining has had deadly effects on the community causing cancer especially in the lungs and causing asthma in kids. These health effects are ruining these towns in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. I believe there needs to be more awareness for the health issues that are occurring in these towns. Coal mining is beneficial but not when it’s harming people with diseases like cancer. We need to find better alternatives for coal mining as coal is a major resource for the United States. My goal in this paper is to bring more awareness to these health conditions and how they are ruining communities in these states. Mountaintop Removal is a process of strip mining that is extremely dangerous to the environment. This process is done in multiple methods such as: cross-ridge mining, box-cut method, steep slope method, area method or mountaintop mining (Mountaintop Removal 101, appvoices.org). The first step …show more content…
This contaminates a whole community’s supply of water. In a study that was released in 2011, it showed that Appalachia communities had an increased rate of birth defects (Ahren, crmw.org). A lot more health issues began to become present as time went on. It’s been proven that people living near mountaintop removal sites have cancer rates of 14.4% compared to the 9.4% for people who live elsewhere in Appalachia (Hendryx, crmw.org). Due to the mountaintop being removed with explosives, air near the areas becomes contaminated due to the coal dust and other dirt entering the atmosphere and being breathed