Mountaintop Removal Mining in Central Appalachia: Public Health and Legal Perspectives
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Thomas Loikith
Access Type
Event
Start Date
26-4-2024 12:45 PM
End Date
26-4-2024 1:44 PM
Description
Mountaintop removal mining is a practice that has been questioned in the legal system for decades. However, limited legislative progress has been made to address this method of mining. Despite the various statutes, regulations, and lawsuits regarding surface mining, mountaintop removal mining continues to be underregulated, allowing mining operations to continue to disperse environmental pollutants, ultimately affecting human health. How can future legislation prevail where past action has failed? Ultimately, how can mountaintop removal mining legislation be enacted and curb the health risks that come from living near a mining site? These are complex questions that must be analyzed through an interdisciplinary approach, specifically by looking at the fields of law and public health. The use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as court opinions, federal and state regulations, and statistics regarding the health of populations living near mountaintop removal mining sites will allow me to integrate the two converging fields. Thus, I will be able to understand and suggest solutions to this complex question. My research and analysis of data is not yet complete. However, I expect to find that the public health of populations living near mountaintop removal mining sites would vastly improve if stricter regulations and more tactful enforcement methods were put in place regarding the disposal of pollutants from mining sites. Furthermore, human health will improve as federal and state governments limit the use of mountaintop removal coal by requiring companies to use coal from other mining methods.
Mountaintop Removal Mining in Central Appalachia: Public Health and Legal Perspectives
Mountaintop removal mining is a practice that has been questioned in the legal system for decades. However, limited legislative progress has been made to address this method of mining. Despite the various statutes, regulations, and lawsuits regarding surface mining, mountaintop removal mining continues to be underregulated, allowing mining operations to continue to disperse environmental pollutants, ultimately affecting human health. How can future legislation prevail where past action has failed? Ultimately, how can mountaintop removal mining legislation be enacted and curb the health risks that come from living near a mining site? These are complex questions that must be analyzed through an interdisciplinary approach, specifically by looking at the fields of law and public health. The use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as court opinions, federal and state regulations, and statistics regarding the health of populations living near mountaintop removal mining sites will allow me to integrate the two converging fields. Thus, I will be able to understand and suggest solutions to this complex question. My research and analysis of data is not yet complete. However, I expect to find that the public health of populations living near mountaintop removal mining sites would vastly improve if stricter regulations and more tactful enforcement methods were put in place regarding the disposal of pollutants from mining sites. Furthermore, human health will improve as federal and state governments limit the use of mountaintop removal coal by requiring companies to use coal from other mining methods.