Death has escaped the mines and now stalks the communities. People who have never been in a mine are dying from the effects of the daily blasting that not only contaminates the streams and rivers, but from the toxic clouds of dust which contains high levels o poly aromatic hydrocarbons, silica and other deadly chemical agents that blanket the region rendering the soil unsafe for farming and have sent cancer rates and birth defects skyrocketing on the Coal River where mortality rates are already are some of the highest in the country.
The human health impacts from mountaintop removal are not caused by any operational failure; it is very the act of removing the mountain itself that is causing the harm. Recently released peer-reviewed scientific research clearly exposes mountaintop removal as a human health hazard yielding great consequences.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/26/how-a-mountain-dies/
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