Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville has reintroduced a bill that would order a comprehensive federal study of the health effects of mountaintop removal coal mining. The bill would also place a moratorium on all new permits until the study is completed.
The measure is called the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act—or ACHE. It was first introduced in 2012, and at the time, Yarmuth told WFPL he wanted to raise awareness of the effects of mountaintop removal.
“Part of the reason I wanted to support the bill and the sponsors did, was to call attention to this," said Yarmuth. "I mean, this is not a benign practice. It’s not benign in any respect, environmentally or in terms of its health impact.”
Several peer-reviewed studies in recent years have linked mountaintop removal mining to birth defects and lung, heart and kidney disease. The practice is efficient for coal operators who want to mine thinner seams of coal, and often requires fewer workers than underground mines.