scholarly journals The Power-Knowledge to Move Mountains: Subaltern Discourses of Mountaintop Removal in Coal River Valley, West Virginia

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Osha
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Mountaintop Removal

scholarly journals Increased Dementia Mortality in West Virginia Counties with Mountaintop Removal Mining?

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (21) ◽  
pp. 4278 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Salm ◽  
Michael J. Benson
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Atmospheric Particulate Matter ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Mountaintop Removal ◽  
Satellite Imaging ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
Mountaintop Removal Mining ◽  
Causative Factors ◽  
Type Studies

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is elevated in areas of mountaintop removal mining (MTM), a practice that has been ongoing in some counties of West Virginia (WV) USA since the 1970s. PM inhalation has been linked to central nervous system pathophysiology, including cognitive decline and dementia. Here we compared county dementia mortality statistics in MTM vs. non-MTM WV counties over a period spanning 2001–2015. We found significantly elevated age-adjusted vascular or unspecified dementia mortality/100,000 population in WV MTM counties where, after adjusting for socioeconomic variables, dementia mortality was 15.60 (±3.14 Standard Error of the Mean (S.E.M.)) times higher than that of non-MTM counties. Further analyses with satellite imaging data revealed a highly significant positive correlation between the number of distinct mining sites vs. both mean and cumulative vascular and unspecified dementia mortality over the 15 year period. This was in contrast to finding only a weak relationship between dementia mortality rates and the overall square kilometers mined. No effect of living in an MTM county was found for the rate of Alzheimer’s type dementia and possible reasons for this are considered. Based on these results, and the current literature, we hypothesize that inhalation of PM associated with MTM contributes to dementia mortality of the vascular or unspecified types. However, limitations inherent in ecological-type studies such as this, preclude definitive extrapolation to individuals in MTM-counties at this time. We hope these findings will inspire follow-up cohort and case-controlled type studies to determine if specific causative factors associated with living near MTM can be identified. Given the need for caregiving and medical support, increased dementia mortality of the magnitude seen here could, unfortunately, place great demands upon MTM county public health resources in the future.

A Vested Interest: Activist Anthropology in the Mountaintop Removal Debate

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Samuel Cook
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Vested Interest ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mountaintop Removal ◽  
Removal Method ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Activist Anthropology ◽  
Mountain West

"I want you to think about something that means so much to you—that you love so much—that you would give your life for it," said Larry Gibson as he addressed a group of students from my Appalachian Communities class visiting the remnants of his ancestral farm on Kayford Mountain, West Virginia. Most of my students had never given this question much thought. On the other hand, the majority of them (most of whom came from the urban Northeast) had never heard of the mountaintop removal method of surface mining until taking my class.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINESOILS ON A MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL MINE IN SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 448-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Thomas ◽  
J.C. Sencindiver ◽  
J.G. Skousen ◽  
J.M. Gorman
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Mountaintop Removal

Combating Mountaintop Removal

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan T. McNeil
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Labor Unions ◽  
Community Activism ◽  
Strip Mining ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Local Effects ◽  
Mountaintop Removal ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Prevalent Form

Drawing on powerful personal testimonies of the hazards of mountaintop removal in southern West Virginia, this book critically examines the fierce conflicts over this violent and increasingly prevalent form of strip mining. Focusing on the grassroots activist organization Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW), the book reveals a turn away from once-strong traditional labor unions and the emergence of community-based activist organizations. By framing social and moral arguments in terms of the environment, these innovative hybrid movements take advantage of environmentalism's higher profile in contemporary politics. In investigating the local effects of globalization and global economics, the book tracks the profound reimagining of social and personal ideas such as identity, history, and landscape and considers their roles in organizing an agenda for progressive community activism.

Microchemical analysis of selenium in otoliths of two West Virginia fishes captured near mountaintop removal coal mining operations

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1039-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariah C. Arnold ◽  
Lisa A. Friedrich ◽  
T. Ty Lindberg ◽  
Matthew Ross ◽  
Norman M. Halden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
Mining Operations ◽  
Mountaintop Removal ◽  
Microchemical Analysis

Conclusion: John Henry, Efficiency, and Community

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan T. McNeil
Keyword(s):  
West Virginia ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
First Century ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Mountaintop Removal ◽  
Modern Industrial Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Twenty First Century

This chapter discusses the origin of the John Henry legend and how it has been attributed to West Virginia around the time railroads expanded into the new frontier, seeking the region's rich raw materials. Though there are many interpretations of the legend, John Henry still serves as a parable for the shift to modern industrial society and its ramifications. The social struggles represented by the conflict over mountaintop removal belong not to John Henry's era, but to a subsequent social shift that West Virginians and Americans in general struggled with at the turn of the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, the relationships between corporate efficiency and community bonds are similar enough to warrant revisiting the parable.

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