Coal is not healthy for kids. As one U.S. study found, “Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on children’s cognitive development and health” (See “If you want smarter kids, shut coal plants“). Hence, Coal for Dummies.
Perhaps the only thing worse for kids than living downwind of a major coal plant is living downwind of coal itself. As the BBC reported in February (see Chinese birth defects “up sharply”), “A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects”¦. The coal-mining heartland of Shanxi province had the biggest problem.”
Do coal companies have any responsibility to directly protect children from the harmful effects of air pollution? Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) thinks so, but Massey Energy thinks otherwise, as Think Progress explains.
The Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia sits just 300 feet from a Massey Energy coal silo and “downhill from a slurry impoundment.” Massey’s plans to build a second silo are facing “protests from environmentalists and some residents over the threat of flood and claims that children are exposed to coal dust, among other things,” especially because the company is refusing to build a new school, away from the toxic chemicals. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) is taking Massey to task for its “disregard for human life and safety“:
“Such arrogance suggests a blatant disregard for the impact of their mining practices on our communities, residents and particularly our children,” Byrd said in a statement. “These are children’s lives we are talking about.” [...]
“If Massey were not operating near Marsh Fork Elementary, we would not be debating what to do about moving these young students someplace safer,” Byrd said. “This is not the taxpayers’ burden to remedy. This is Massey Energy’s responsibility to address.“
Massey has criticized Byrd’s comments, noting that the school district never asked the company for funding. (Regardless, Massey has said it has no interest in donating any money because it already “pays millions of dollars in taxes each year.”)
For more on what Massey and the coal industry have really given West Virginia, go here.
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I don’t get it. Sure, the NIMBY and the “wont someone please think about the children” crowd seems to have their collective panties in a bunch about this, but are any of their stated fears rooted in anything other than ignorance? Have there been reportable releases of OSHA/EPA covered substances and have these releases (if there have been any) spread off site? Have claims of coal dust contamination been verified or is this all hype and scare mongering. It’s been my experience that dust suppression systems are more than adequate to deal with processes like this, and since this is a slurry tank (read wet), the issue of dust would appear to be moot. What was there first, the mine or the school … is this a repeat of the Blue Island Illinois Clark refinery?
Too many questions and not enough answers.
October 12, 2009
Coal is not healthy for kids. As one U.S. study found, “Closing coal-(fired power plants) can have a direct, positive impact on children’s cognitive development and health” (See “If you want smarter kids, shut coal plants“). Hence, Coal for Dummies.
Just a correction. This Massey site is coal storage tanks. No coal burning there at all. This is not a power plant location.
It is a quarter mile away? I am sure hundreds of schools are actually adjacent to railroads and other industrial facilities.
The post written by Carl S. is disgusting and insulting. He obviously cares nothing for kids and makes fun of people who do. And to answer his question: yes, the school was there first. Jim Hansen was there this past summer with others, protesting because of this very issue and because of mountain top removal by coal companies. Jim Hansen is the world’s leading climatologist, has grandchildren himself and I’m sure wouldn’t appreciate Carl’s ignorant, disgusting remarks.
Who are you people? Joe never said that Marsh Fork Elementary school was near a coal plant, he pointed out that it’s a health hazard for kids to be exposed to coal pollution near either coal burning power plants or near processing.
For a look at how close the school is to the coal slurry, check out the link and the movie “Mountain top Coal Removal” by Mike O’Connell.
As I recall a major concern re this school is that it is downstream from one of these big open impoundments that have a tendency to cause floods and kill people.
That is a separate issue from the slurry tanks.
I am guessing that Carl and Rhonda may work for a coal company in some regard – PR possibly.
Another good movie to see is “Burning the Future – Coal in America” It puts a real human face on the effects of coal mining on the local residents. And I believe the dust from the mountain top explosions is likely causing all kinds of respiratory issues for those downwind.
Richard L: Coal company no but I used to work for a major Midwestern utility and now work for a nuclear OEM. Attacking the messenger though, that’s original.
Anyhoo, Mr Romm didn’t provide any link that living in close proximity to a coal processing facility has any direct or indirect impact on the health of “the children” and I doubt that one can be found.
Lizardo, just how frequent is this “tendency” of ash ponds to break containment and kill people? There have been, going from memory, no more than 5 ash pond incidents in the past 50 years and no fatalities.
Cynthia, I find your comments ignorant but typical. Armco mining originally built this facility in the late 1920’s and the school was built in 1947.
Carl S wrote (in part): “Have claims of coal dust contamination been verified or is this all hype and scare mongering? It’s been my experience that dust suppression systems are more than adequate to deal with processes like this, and since this is a slurry tank (read wet), the issue of dust would appear to be moot. What was there first, the mine or the school … is this a repeat of the Blue Island Illinois Clark refinery? “
I suggest you look up the book “Coal River” by Michael Shnayerson. It tells the story of Marsh Fork Elementary. Briefly, the school was there first. Massey built its coal silo across the road later. Still later, it proposed building a second silo at the same location. (The second silo was blocked. During the course of that legal battle Massey was found to have ignored the true boundary of its property.)
Inspections of the school were done by court order. The first one was by education personnel who had no idea how to find coal dust except to walk through the building and look for it on flat surfaces. (The principal and her team had spent the previous weekend cleaning those.) Naturally, they concluded that no problem existed. A second inspection found substantial amounts of coal dust inside the school’s air conditioners, much of it under the critical 10-micron size. Particles smaller than 10 microns can lodge permanently in the lungs and cause chronic respiratory problems.
Chris Winter: The original facility, the one built by Armco does indeed pre-date the school. Those are just the facts.
The second inspection, performed by the EPA, did indeed find coal dust inside the school and on the playground, but the levels were so low that toxicology dose information didn’t register for amounts that miniscule. While there is a tremendous amount of information on occupational exposure to coal dust, the levels that would be seen at the school just don’t register. This too is another fact.
And to clear up the ash pond issue, I did forget about Buffalo Creek in 1972, it wasn’t at a utility site so I am not familiar with it.
Joe, I submitted a reply to Carl S yesterday. It had 3 or 4 URLs in it. Could you check if it’s still in moderation?
Well, until I can recreate my post of 14 October, the gist is that Marsh Fork Elementary is near 70 years old (predating the coal silo by 30 years) and a study by a professional found substantial reason for concern about the air quality at the school.