Coal mining does great harm to human life — not just in the mines, but in the surrounding communities.

In what may be a death blow to the coal industry, a large group of scientists tested water and studied peer-reviewed environmental and health data in Appalachia, and gave their opinions on coal mining last week in the journal Science. (Abstract here).  Science is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and one of the top journals in the world.   Their findings explode the myth of “clean coal” and finds that mountaintop removal is so damaging it should stop.  The scientists said they were puzzled the media doesn’t report on this damage more often, despite the “debates”.

The 11-author study, “Mountaintop Mining Consequences” found in the conclusion that: Research priorities to reduce Appalachian health disparities should focus on reducing disparities in the coalfields. The human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits. They also found that reclamation and reforestation of a mined site to pre-mined conditions has never happened, despite claims by coal mine owners.

Their recommendation amounts to: shut the coal mines down.   Coal mining is irreparably damaging the environment and harming, sometimes killing, the people of Appalachia;  men, women and children.  The health risks are across the board.  The environmental damage is permanent.  Their conclusion doesn’t even include the burning of the coal and the storage of the coal sludge waste, which are also toxic and very dangerous to human health.  A couple of excerpts of the paper follow.  First, in a press release titled, Eminent Group of Scientists Call for Moratorium on Issuance of Mountaintop Mining Permits:

“Based on a comprehensive analysis of the latest scientific findings and new data, a group of the nation’s leading environmental scientists are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to stay all new mountaintop mining permits. In the January 8 edition of the journal Science, they argue that peer-reviewed research unequivocally documents irreversible environmental impacts from this form of mining which also exposes local residents to a higher risk of serious health problems.

The authors — hydrologists, ecologists and engineers — are internationally recognized scientists, including several members of the National Academy of Sciences. They argue that the U.S. should take a global leadership role on the issue, as surface mining in many developing countries is expected to grow extensively in the next decade.

“The scientific evidence of the severe environmental and human impacts from mountaintop mining is strong and irrefutable,” says lead author Dr. Margaret Palmer of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park. “Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes.”

One thing is clear (and was before this study) — coal is dirty and harmful to human health. We need to stop mining it and burning it because it’s killing [...]