Environmental issues in Appalachia, a cultural region in the Eastern United States, include long term and ongoing environmental impact from human activity, and specific incidents of environmental harm such as environmental disasters related to mining. A mountainous area with significant coal deposits, many environmental issues in the region are related to coal and gas extraction. Some extraction practices, particularly surface mining, have met significant resistance locally and at times have received international attention.
Besides coal mining and natural gas extraction, Appalachia faces other environmental issues, including deforestation, soil erosion, climate change, and water scarcity. Deforestation has negatively impacted the region's biologically diverse forests, reducing habitat for various species and altering the forest ecosystem. The steep slopes and heavy rainfall in Appalachia make it susceptible to soil erosion, which can be worsened by land use changes like logging and mining, leading to sedimentation in rivers and streams. Climate change has also affected the region, causing more frequent and severe weather events, shifts in precipitation patterns, and changes in seasonal events. While Appalachia is known for its abundant water resources, water scarcity is a concern in some areas, especially during droughts, which can be worsened by climate change and industrial water withdrawals.
Additionally, black lung disease has been prevalent in the Appalachia region. This disease is common in coal workers due to the inhalation of coal and silica dust in mining sites. Appalachia emerges as the hotspot of this disease, even in lower-class neighborhoods. Minimal screening of the disease has been registered even after passing the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act as early as 1969. There is an urgent need for public health policy in the area to regulate the impacts of coal mining on the spread of black lung disease.
Coal mining
Rural communities in Appalachia suffer from environmental, economic and health disparities related to coal mining. Environmental activism has tended to be a divisive issue because of the dependence of the regional economy on extractive industries, including coal mining. Environmental disasters related to coal mining include coal seam fires (Carbondale mine fire, Centralia mine fire, and Laurel Run mine fire) and coal slurry spills.
History
Coal was found in the 1740s in Virginia, but use remained small scale until the 1800s. Mountaintop removal mining has been practiced since the 1960s.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, after being vetoed twice by Gerald Ford. Before SMCRA most coal states had passed their own mining laws. SMCRA states that "reclaimed land must be as useful as the land was before mining".
SMCRA also created the Office of Surface Mining, an agency within the Department of the Interior, to promulgate regulations, to fund state regulatory and reclamation efforts, and to ensure consistency among state regulatory programs.
Early attempts to regulate strip-mining on the state level were largely unsuccessful due to lax enforcement. The Appalachian Group to Save the Land and the People was founded in 1965 to stop surface mining. In 1968, Congress held the first hearings on strip mining. Ken Hechler introduced the first strip-mining abolition bill in Congress in 1971. Though this bill was not passed, provisions establishing a process to reclaim abandoned strip mines and allowing citizens to sue regulatory agencies became parts of SMCRA.
After SMCRA was passed, the coal industry immediately challenged it as exceeding the limits of Congressional leglative power under the Commerce Clause. In Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining and Reclamation Association (1981) the Supreme Court held that Congress does have the authority to regulate coal mining, generally.