Raúl Grijalva: “My amendment would allow the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to continue to develop regulations…”

“My amendment would allow the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to continue to develop regulations designed to protect communities and the environment from the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining. If you have seen a picture of a mountaintop removal mining site, you get an idea of how destructive this process is. Companies literally blast the tops off of mountains, scoop out the coal, and dump what used to be the mountaintop into the valley below. The scars on the landscape are unmistakable, as are the piles of rock filling in what used to be mountain valleys and streams. What you don't see in the picture is the health impacts on the people living nearby, although those are just as real and just as terrible. People who live near mountaintop mining sites have higher rates of lung cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, birth defects, hypertension, and other health related problems. Despite some confusion in the Natural Resources Committee just last month, these results are statistically corrected for rates of smoking, obesity, and other factors.…”