New Study Reports-Appalachian Children Are Paying The Price For Cheap Coal

http://www.ilovemountains.org/news/866

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

"I know this country needs electricity but if it means hurting my children then go ahead and shut mine off."

Those are the words of Paula Foley Swearingin, a native West Virginian and mother of four, describing the terrible reality of what it means to be a parent in Appalachia. Fortunately for Paula’s children they weren’t born in her hometown of Mullens, WV, because if they were, the chances of them growing up to be such beautiful, healthy, strong young men would have been substantially less.

That’s because according to the results of a new peer reviewed study by Dr. Micheal Hendryx of West Virginia University and Dr. Melissa Ahern of Washington State University, infants whose mothers live in counties where Mountaintop Removal coal mining occurs have up to a 181% greater chance of being born with a circulatory or respiratory disorder, and are 42% more likely to suffer from birth defects of any type, even after accounting for confounding factors like race, obesity and poor access to prenatal care.

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