“Public Health in Appalachia: Looking at Coal’s Direct and Indirect Impacts”

Appalachia suffers from many public health issues related to coal, including black lung disease, diseases related to coal fly ash exposure, and an opioid epidemic. Black lung and ash exposure have direct connections while the opioid epidemic has indirect connections. From 2000 to 2012, black lung disease cases increased 900%. Since 2010, Appalachia has experienced 2,000 new black lung cases with some progressing more rapidly than past cases. According to David Weissman of NIOSH, “\u27The only thing that causes this illness is the inhalation of dust during coal mining [so to] have people getting sick so young, they must have been way overexposed, which means failures in compliance.\u27” In December 2008, a coal fly ash spill occurred at TVA’s Kingston, Tennessee plant, which began a series of complex failures. Resulting lawsuits have alleged TVA\u27s and EPA’s incompetence concerning the cleanup where unprotected workers have died or fallen ill from exposure to the ash. The opioid epidemic began twenty years ago with Appalachia suffering first. The region now has the highest overdose rates in the nation. Work injuries suffered by coal miners resulted in prescriptions for new opioid painkillers, including oxycontin. Laws were slow to react, resulting in the current epidemic. Our research looks at court filings, agency documents, and recent studies for insight into the true costs of coal with its accompanying public health issues. We focus on the impact of law, regulations, and lawsuits on these issues