Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVWebsite maps health and economic data with mountain mine sites

An interactive map launched Feb. 14 by the nonprofit iLoveMountains.org plots county-level data on indicators of health and quality of life in relation to mountaintop mining sites.

"The Human Cost of Coal" is a map centered on the mountaintop mining region of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

The map plots 10 regional data sets of health and quality of life — changes in life expectancy from 1997-2007, birth defects for 1996-2003, poverty in 2010, and population changes 1980-2010; deaths from cancer 1997-2007 and deaths in 2010 from chronic cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, respiratory diseases and all causes; and an index of overall well-being for 2010 — each laid over a map of mountaintop mining sites.

A dropdown box allows users to choose one of the parameters; once a map is loaded, clicking on individual counties loads pages, some still under construction, on county-specific data.

For some of the 10 data sets, correlations with mountaintop mining do not appear to be close.

Some mountaintop mine sites lie in high heart disease mortality areas. But sites in Kanawha, Clay and Nicholas counties, for example, lie in an area of average mortality from heart disease, by U.S. standards, and among the best averages in the state.

For other data sets, the correlations are striking.

A region of highest incidence of birth defects, for example, just surrounds the mountaintop mining sites.

One page on the website summarizes and provides links to 21 relevant peer-reviewed studies on health and socioeconomic status published since 2007.

"Though many of the studies state the obvious for those of us living in these communities, the scientific facts give us much-needed evidence to make sure our laws are truly enforced for the health of our land and people," said Letcher County, Ky. resident Ada Smith in a media release.

The West Virginia Coal Association did not return a call seeking comment on the site.

Created by Appalachian Voices, "The Human Cost of Coal" compiles data from the Gallup-Healthways Partnership, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.