Grijalva on DOI Stopping Mining Health Impact Study: When Industry Hurts Working People, Trump and Zinke Cover for Them

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on the news that the Department of the Interior (DOI), under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, has ordered the National Academy of Sciences to stop its study of the human health impacts of mountaintop removal mining. The study, which was already underway and had conducted multiple public listening sessions, was being conducted on a DOI contract that the Trump administration decided to suspend.

“Every time some reckless industry hurts working people, this administration is there to provide political cover. Mountaintop removal mining has been shown to cause lung cancer, heart disease, and other medical problems. Clearly this administration and the Republican Party are trying to stop the National Academy of Sciences from uncovering exactly how harmful this practice is. Stopping this study is a ploy to stop science in its tracks and keep the public in the dark about health risks as a favor to the mining industry, pure and simple.”

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