Environmental justice and coal mining in Appalachia is the study of environmental justice – the interdisciplinary body of social science literature studying theories of the environment and justice; environmental laws, policies, and their implementations and enforcement; development and sustainability; and political ecology – in relation to coal mining in Appalachia.
The Appalachian region of the Southeastern United States is a leading producer of coal in the country. Research shows that residents who live near mountaintop removal (MTR) mines have higher mortality rates than average, and are more likely to live in poverty and be exposed to harmful environmental conditions than people in otherwise comparable parts of the region.
In the late 1990s, several Appalachian women, including Julia Bonds, began to speak out against MTR and its effects on the people and environment of mining communities. Research has shown that MTR causes "irreparable" environmental damage in Appalachia. The blasting of mountaintops has polluted streams and contaminated water supplies with toxic waste from coal processing called slurry ponds. Scientists have noted an increase in respiratory and heart problems among area residents, including lung cancer. Mortality rates and birth defect rates are higher in the areas surrounding surface mining locations.
Coal mining production in Appalachia declined from 1990 to 2015, but there is some debate over why. Cited factors include a rising demand for clean energy, environmental policies and regulations set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and globalization. The number of coal mining jobs in the region remained steady from 2000 to 2010, but declined by 37% between 2011 and 2015. Less production is responsible for much of this job loss, but improved mining techniques like mountain-top removal also contributed. Discourse around coal in the area has sparked a debate in academia over whether it creates wealth or poverty. The core debate centers around coal production's impact on the local and national economy.
Background
Coal production Appalachia is one of three coal-mining regions in the United States; the others are the Interior coal region, and the Western coal region, which includes the Powder River Basin. Eight states lie in the Appalachian coal region: Alabama, eastern Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.Where the United States gets its coal, U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (last updated December 22, 2023). West Virginia is the largest coal-producing state in Appalachia, and the second-largest coal-producing state in the United States, accounting for about 14% of the nation's total coal production in 2022 (the largest coal-producing state is Wyoming, which lies in the Western coal region and accounts for 41% of U.S. coal production). Two other states in the Appalachian coal region, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, account for 5% and 7% of U.S. coal production, respectively.
The coal industry in Appalachia has changed over time. According to U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration data, Central Appalachia—consisting of southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, and eastern Tennessee—made up almost 29% of U.S. coal production in the U.S. in 1990, but only about 13% by 2013.Ted Boettner, 7 Things You Need to Know About Why Coal is Declining in West Virginia (1 of 7), West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy (October 23, 2014). By contrast, coal production in Northern Appalachia has remained relatively stable, going from 16% in 1990 to 12.5% in 2013. As a result, "both regions account for nearly the same share of U.S. coal production" .
In the Appalachian coal region, 80% of coal produced came from underground mines. This is a much higher percentage than in the Western coal region, where 92% of all coal produced comes from surface mines.
History
Historically, "the building of coal towns began in the 1880s, peaked in the 1920s, and virtually ended with the coming of the Great Depression" when the availability of other forms of energy—namely, oil, gas, and hydroelectricity—reduced demand for coal.Crandall A. Shifflett, Coal Towns: Life, Work, and Culture in Company Towns of Southern Appalachia (University of Tennessee, 1991), p. 33. The company town was particularly dominant in southern Appalachia; in 1925, almost 80% of West Virginia coal miners lived in company towns, while an average of 64.4% of coal miners in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee lived in company towns.Shifflett, pp. 34-34.
Impacts of coal mining in Appalachia Since 1995, the Appalachian region has produced about half of the United States' coal. Although Appalachia has played a large role in contributing to the coal supply of the United States, the communities surrounding such mining practices have suffered immensely. Several studies have shown disparities between mining communities and non-mining communities in terms of public health, environmental degradation, pollution, and overall quality of life in Appalachia. Variations of surface coal mining techniques in Appalachia include contour, area, high-wall, auger, and mountaintop removal mining (MTR).
Surface mining
The damage caused by mountaintop removal strip mining has had a calculable effect on the environment and communities in Appalachia. The resource rich region remains economically deprived and suffers from the externalities of coal mining, including the health problems caused by coal pollution. The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is the federal agency tasked with regulating strip-mining under the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). According to OSM, "[t]o the extent that low income populations are prevalent in the coalfields, the impacts of mountaintop mining are felt disproportionately by these environmental justice populations".
Most local residents are unable to see the extent of the damage that has been caused by surface mining. Geologist Sean P. Bemis investigated claims by local residents that the extent of the damage was not easily visible. In interviews with the research team, former miner Chuck Nelson stated that the extent of the destruction is only clearly visible from a plane. Coalfield resident activist Maria Gunnoe gave a similar account to the researchers, saying "I never realized it was so bad. My first fly-over with South Wings [non-profit aviation organization], and that right there is what really fired me up. When I got off the plane that day, I cried all the way across the tarmac, all the way home..." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed this in a 2009 report:
There are no official records of the total number of "disturbed acres" that have resulted from surface mining, but geospatial analysis has shown that between 1.05 million and 1.28 million acres of land and more than 500 mountains in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia have been surface mined.
Mountaintop removal
One form of surface mining is mountaintop removal (MTR). This technique can remove as much as 800 to 1000 feet from mountaintops, in order to reach coal seams not accessible by other surface mining techniques. This practice was used on a small scale in the 1970s, and became heavily used in the 1990s because of the increased demand for high-grade low-sulfur coal following passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
The process of MTR begins by the clearcutting of trees on a chosen mountaintop, which is then blasted with explosives. Next all of the excess soil and rock or "spoil" is moved out; after the mining operation is complete this will be replaced. Once this rock has been disturbed, swelling will take place; the spoil will expand by fifteen to twenty five percent, due to air incorporation and voids. The excess spoil or "overburden" then is dumped into nearby streams or valleys, a process referred to as a "valley fill". Mountaintop mining and valley fills can lead to large scale landscape changes, which may include: conversion of habitats, fragmentation of forests, and loss of large tracts of forested land. Since the boom in MTR usage, as many as 500 mountaintops have been destroyed and 2000 miles of waterways have been filled.
There also may be adverse effects on the people living in these Appalachian mining communities. Michael Hendryx, a researcher at Indiana State University, stated in an interview with Yale that, "The number of excess deaths every year comes to about 1,200 people who live in these mining communities compared to other parts of Appalachia." The diseases most prevalent in these MTR areas include: cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and COPD. These are not only occupational diseases of coal miners but also of the general public. The risk of birth defects, especially congenital heart defects, increases by as much as 181% in MTR areas. Researchers are beginning to research smaller particulate matter as the cause of these illnesses and increased mortality.
Effects on health Several studies have found that communities within the Appalachian region surrounding coal mining practices disproportionately experience negative health effects than communities with no coal mining. Such health disparities are largely attributed to the contamination of water and land associated with coal surface mining. MTR has increased salinity, metals, magnesium, and sulfates within Appalachian watersheds, threatening human health. Sixty-three percent of stream beds near coalfields within the Appalachian mountains have been identified as "impaired" due to high toxic chemical and metal contamination.
In West Virginia, 14 counties are experiencing water that exceeds safe drinking water standards by seven times more than non-mining counties. Combustion waste and fly ash from MTR lend to toxic dusts pollute the surrounding air and have contributed to increased levels of cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. Public health costs of pollution in Appalachia are upwards of 75 billion dollars a year.
In an analysis of health-related quality of life that compared United States residents in counties with and without coal mining, it was reported that residents in counties with coal mining had, "significantly fewer healthy days for both physical and mental health". The same study highlights strong correlations between heavy coal mining counties and a greater risk of depression and severe psychological distress. Areas in Appalachia with coal surface mining exhibit greater rates of adverse health effects and reduced self-rated health in comparison to the national average. In addition, studies from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have concluded a high "relationship between surface coal mining jobs and the prevalence of pneumoconiosis". Lastly, through examination of mortality rates, county-level poverty rates, and coal mining within counties of Appalachia, it was identified that coal mining areas of Appalachia experienced higher mortality rates then counties with no coal mining.
The coal mining industry has had many lasting health effects not only on the workers in the industry but also on the people who live close to the mines. People that are exposed to the particles released from coal mining experience illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, pneumoconiosis, and cardiovascular disease: