With scientists speaking out, might we see the end of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia? (Image via Silvia Alba on Flickr.com)

Scientists become advocates in the most recent issue of the journal Science

In today’s issue of the journal Science, twelve scientists from institutions around the country outlined the ecological and human health impacts of mountaintop removal mining. It is an impressive paper on those merits alone, but the real impact comes at the end: the scientists call for a ban on the practice. The line between science and advocacy grows blurrier by the day. 

“Mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses,” the scientists wrote. They’re not kidding about the permits—as we wrote yesterday, the EPA seems to be relaxing a few months of strong posturing on the issue, allowing at least one and maybe two projects to move forward shortly.

The authors include researchers from ground zero of the mountaintop removal issue, West Virginia University at Morgantown, and from as far away as the University of California, Berkeley. Collectively, they issue a hefty reprimand to those in charge: “Regulators should no longer ignore rigorous science.”

The paper outlines how streams in Appalachia have been found to have severely elevated levels of sulfate, calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions. One survey of 78 streams affected by filling from mountaintop removal debris found that 73 had selenium concentrations several times above toxic levels. Some animals also feed on algae that can accumulate selenium at levels hundreds of times higher than that of the water itself.

The paper spends only one paragraph on human health impacts, but it leaves one wondering why this is even still a possibility:

Adult hospitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hypertension are elevated as a function of county-level coal production, as are rates of mortality; lung cancer; and chronic heart, lung, and kidney disease. Health problems are for women and men, so effects are not simply a result of direct occupational exposure of predominantly male coal miners.

As the raft of citations in the Science paper illustrate, plenty of research has been done on the impacts of surface mining in Appalachia, but this is the first time that a group of experts have ventured out on the advocacy limb in such dramatic fashion, choosing one of the world’s most respected peer-reviewed journals as their platform. They conclude that no new mountaintop removal permits should be issued “unless new methods can be subjected to rigorous peer review and shown to remedy these problems.” As I’m sure the authors are aware, however, that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Thus, they are in effect asking for all mountaintop removal to stop.

The mining issue has already shown to be one where scientists might be willing to shed the lab coats for a bit. This summer, NASA’s James Hansen joined in an act of civil disobedience and was arrested in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, to protest mountaintop removal. And now with this paper, perhaps others will start speaking out as well.

Bravo, scientists. Bravo.

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A Cumberland County Commissioner warns that residents in the area could see the arrival and dumping of spilled, toxic TVA fly ash without too much local control over the project and under conditions that include a former state Senator making money off someone else's hardships:

It has been brought to my attention that Crossville Mining Company has asked the Cumberland County Commission to review a proposal to build a hazardous waste dump on Smith Mountain. This proposal will be reviewed by the county commission's environmental committee on Wednesday, May 5, at 4:30 in the small courtroom.

Crossville Mining Company has proposed that they be permitted to dump ash from the Kingston disaster into a quarry in their Cumberland County mining site. Although not made public, my sources have revealed that the county will be paid at least $2 million in "load" fees if the commission approves this. In addition the coal company has promised to improve the road system leading to the quarry. About 180 dump trucks of ash a day will make its way from Kingston to Cumberland County. My sources also tell me that the trucking firm involved in the potential contract is owned by former state Senator Tommy Kilby of Morgan County.

Under the "Jackson law" once the full commission votes a yes to the proposal, the state takes over and there is no further county input to stop the company from using the quarry as a hazardous waste dump site. There are dozens of questions that should be asked and answered before a decision is made by the county. These questions include, "What else do you plan to put at the site? What levels of radiation are emitted by the ash? What risk is posed by the dust particulates to the residents in the area? How much mercury and arsenic are contained in the waste materials? What is your safety plan for dealing with problems that might occur such as the leaching of contaminants into the county's aquifer? What is the environmental impact on the area? How will road accident and spills be handled?" If approved without the appropriate information, under state law, the county has no repeal options.