Unintended consequences of the Clean Air Act: Mortality rates in Appalachian coal mining communities

Hendryx, Michael; Holland, Benjamin D

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2016.04.021

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Lung cancer incidence rates are highest in the central Appalachian regions of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee (Wingo et al 2007;Christian et al 2011). However, despite overall higher incidence rate of lung cancer in the Appalachian region, studies find the highest mortality rates for lung cancer in coal mining counties (Hendryx, O'Donnell & Horn 2008;Hendryx, Fedorko & AnesettiRothermel 2010;Hendryx & Holland 2016). All studies have controlled for potential risk factors, such as smoking rates within each county.…”

Section: Mortality and Coal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additional studies conducted by the WVU team find an increased incidence of lung cancer (Hendryx, O'Donnell & Horn 2008;Hendryx, Fedorko & Anesetti-Rothermel 2010;Hendryx & Holland 2016) and respiratory mortality (Hendryx & Holland 2016) in Appalachian coal mining counties.…”

Section: Mortality and Coal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Appalachian coal has lower levels of sulfur compared to coal mined in the other major producing regions (such as the Powder River Basin in Wyoming) in the United States (Goodell 2006;Hendryx & Holland 2016). As power plants were required to reduce emissions of sulfur and other pollutants, cleaner burning Appalachian coal began to rise in demand (Copeland 2015;Hendryx & Holland 2016 One technological advancement that has had a meaningful effect on both employment, and potential health, is mountaintop coal removal. Mountaintop removal coal mining is a form of surface coal mining that requires the blasting and removal of the tops of mountains.…”

Section: Mountaintop Removal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oil embargo and resulting shocks of the 1970's brought renewed interest in domestic sources of energy and coal once again became a dominant player in America's energy needs. The passage of new environmental regulations in the 1960's and 1970's, particularly controls on emissions from power plants enacted through the Clean Air Act, fueled an increased demand for Appalachian coal (Goodell 2006;Eller 2008;Hendryx & Holland 2016). Appalachian coal has lower levels of sulfur compared to coal mined in the other major producing regions (such as the Powder River Basin in Wyoming) in the United States (Goodell 2006;Hendryx & Holland 2016).…”

Section: Mountaintop Removal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The passage of new environmental regulations in the 1960's and 1970's, particularly controls on emissions from power plants enacted through the Clean Air Act, fueled an increased demand for Appalachian coal (Goodell 2006;Eller 2008;Hendryx & Holland 2016). Appalachian coal has lower levels of sulfur compared to coal mined in the other major producing regions (such as the Powder River Basin in Wyoming) in the United States (Goodell 2006;Hendryx & Holland 2016). As power plants were required to reduce emissions of sulfur and other pollutants, cleaner burning Appalachian coal began to rise in demand (Copeland 2015;Hendryx & Holland 2016 One technological advancement that has had a meaningful effect on both employment, and potential health, is mountaintop coal removal.…”

Section: Mountaintop Removal Miningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moving mountains : a study examining long-term impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on mortality in the Appalachian region using geographic information sciences techniques.

Pugh¹

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, "Moving mountains : a study examining long-term impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on mortality in the Appalachian region using geographic information sciences techniques." (2017 Over the last hundred years, the Appalachian region has been dominated by the coal industry. It has also been and currently is one of the unhealthiest regions in the United States. Recent scholarship has examined the relationship between coal mining and health and mortality rates in the Appalachian region. The first study incorporates air quality and pollution data to examine if coal mining counties have higher levels of pollution and if this pollution contributes to mortality disadvantage. In the second study, I construct a population-based coal-exposure measure to better evaluate the relationship between coal mining and health I find that coal mining is a poor predictor of air quality and air pollution. However, there appears to be strong links between air pollution and particulate matter pollution. In the second study, I find that the coal-exposure measure for some types of mortality (all-cause, all-cancer, lung cancer, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease) is more predictive than dichotomous county-level coal mining measures, particularly in explaining cross-county differences in mortality rates. However, I find limited support for the effectiveness of coal-exposure measures when examining links between coal mining and mortality rates.vi

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