Trump administration halts study on coal mining’s impact on health – Roanoke Times

The Trump administration ordered the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to stop studying whether mountaintop removal mining in Central Appalachia poses a health risk to people living nearby.

The U.S. Department of Interiors Office of Surface Mining notified the National Academies in a letter Friday that it is halting the study while it reviews grants of more than $100,000. Regulators permitted the study panel to hold meetings scheduled for this week.

Virginia Tech crop and soil environmental sciences professor Lee Daniels is expected to present research in Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday.

Last month, Susan Meacham, a professor of preventative medicine at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg presented findings from yearslong research that compares deaths and diseases in Virginias coalfields with other parts of the state.

The NAS study is serving a very important function in a very balanced and professional process, Meacham said. The NAS committees are highly respected, so we hope they will be able to continue the review and assessment of work currently available on surface mining and human health.

Meacham said listening to other presentations during her July appearance confirmed that there is a dearth of verified research on the effects of coal mining on community health.

A National Academies committee began holding meetings in March and was expected next spring to report on coals impacts on air, water and soil that could lead to health concerns, and to recommend areas of further research.

The committee has been hearing from university researchers and from state and federal regulators.

The Trump administration in May called for slashing tens of billions of dollars from the federal budget, including $122 million from the Interior Department.

The NAS said in a statement that the department cited the budget situation as prompting an agency-wide review of grants of more than $100,000.

The National Academies believes this is an important study and we stand ready to resume it as soon as the Department of the Interior review is completed, William Kearney, executive director, said in a statement. We are grateful to our committee members for their dedication to carrying forward with this study.

Daniels, a professor of crop and soil environmental sciences, is expected to talk with the committee Tuesday . He could not be reached for comment Monday.

The committee is looking at the relationship of surface coal mining with Central Appalachia residents health.

Meachams research initially was funded by the energy industry through the Appalachian Research Initiatives in Environmental Sciences project, which engaged a number of universities to look at different aspects of surface mining. VCOMs research into health differences was a small component.

Meacham said research is limited on the impact of mountaintop removal mining on health.

Her own work has found that deaths and illnesses from most chronic diseases are more prevalent in Virginias southwestern counties. However, that is not enough to say there is a cause and effect.

Rates for most chronic illnesses are higher in southwest Virginia than they are in neighboring counties that are similar geographically, and in other counties that share similar economic difficulties or that are as isolated from the rest of the state.

The environment plays some role in health, but so do other factors such as education, access to doctors, smoking, diet and exercise. She said it is not yet known whether the environment plays a greater role in health in coal-mining counties than elsewhere.

She is continuing to research that as well as look at ways to treat and prevent chronic illnesses in places with high rates.

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Trump administration halts study on coal mining's impact on health - Roanoke Times