Study of Coal Region Streams Suggests Link Between Mining and Cancer

West Virginia residents living near streams that have been badly polluted by coal mining suffer from high rates of cancer, according to a new study. Research by two scientists at West Virginia University suggests a strong correlation — though not a direct causal link — between higher incidences of cancer and stream pollution. Reporting in the journal Ecohealth, the scientists said they used small invertebrate animals living in streams as an indicator of stream health. The researchers compared the health of streams with county-by-county cancer mortality rates compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Our results demonstrated significant relationships between increasing coal mining, decreasing ecological integrity [of streams], and increasing cancer mortality,” the researchers wrote. Coal mining, particularly mountaintop removal mining, has led to pollution of streams as mining debris is dumped into waterways and water containing metals and other pollutants seeps into streams and aquifers. The study showed that cancers of the respiratory, digestive, and urinary tracts, as well as breast cancer, increased as the ecological quality of streams deteriorated.