LEXINGTON, Ky. - It was no ordinary haircut for mother Alissa Rossi, who visited a downtown Lexington salon - not for a new look to her locks but to see if her mane shows mercury concentrations in her body.

The Sierra Club is sponsoring similar events across the nation to draw attention to the health impacts of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. Coal foes say the heavy metal makes its way into waterways, threatening aquatic life and public health.

Rossi trimmed a little off the top to test for mercury that environmentalists say puts women of child-bearing age at risk of harming their babies, especially if the mothers-to-be eat a lot of fish.

"You hear all these things about how you should be eating fish because they have all these great omega-3s and things that are really important for babies' brain development. But then when you look into it and try to figure out what kind of fish is safe, it gets kind of nerve-wracking because it seems like very little fish is safe."

Lauren McGrath, associate campaign representative of the Sierra Club of Kentucky's Beyond Coal Campaign, says mercury is a potent neurotoxin that's especially dangerous to small children and developing babies.

"Exposure to mercury in-utero can contribute to high developmental disorders, birth defects, even delayed onset of walking and talking."

A recent report analyzing data from the EPA named Kentucky the sixth most mercury-polluted state in the nation, with coal-fired power plants emitting close to 6,000 pounds of it in 2009. Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed federal rules to limit mercury emissions from the nation's fleet of coal-fueled power plants - a move McGrath says is long overdue.

"At least one in 12 and as many as one in six American women have mercury high enough in their bodies to put their baby at risk. So, that's why attention to this new proposed rule - and then also, in the short term, paying attention to the type of fish we're consuming - is very critical."

Knowledge is key, Rossi says, and so is action.

"On the larger scale, all of us - not just pregnant women and the people who love them, but all of us - need to make an effort to kind of raise a call for the EPA to do its job and protect us from these kind of contaminates."

The coal industry and many Kentucky policymakers are squawking at the EPA's pollution-control efforts, claiming that more stringent regulations will force electricity rates to rise and threaten thousands of mining jobs.

The clips of hair are being tested for mercury by a University of Georgia laboratory. The results are expected in two to three weeks.


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Lawmakers in the West Virginia Senate have passed a bill to remove mandated inspections for chemical storage tanks in the oil, coal and gas industries.

The measure is now pending before the House Energy and Public Works Committee.

Morgan King, climate and energy program manager for the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said lawmakers have repeatedly tried to gut protections over the past decade but this time, they appear close to succeeding. She added up to 1,000 tanks scattered across the state would be removed from inspections.

"That just puts us at risk for future water crises if another leak occurs and it's not caught," King contended.

West Virginia passed strict regulations aimed at preventing water tank leaks after a 2014 chemical spill. The spill dumped around 10,000 gallons of chemicals into the Elk River, which supplies drinking water to around 300,000 people in the Charleston area.

According to the West Virginia Environmental Council, 38% of all confirmed tank leaks reported to the West Virginia Department of Environmental protection are located in zones of critical concern. King believes the move signals lawmakers are willing to put the bottom line of industries and their profits above the health and safety of Mountain State residents.

"We're seeing that they're putting the interests of the executives over that of public interest," King outlined. "Around our health, around economic growth, around our ability to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink."

In the weeks following the 2014 chemical spill, the West Virginia Poison Center received thousands of phone calls from people reporting rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms, according to a state report, which also found an increase in emergency room visits.


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West Virginia environmental groups are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, arguing the agency failed to consider residents' health when it gave the stamp of approval for the creation of four valley fills on a thousand-acre surface mine in Raleigh County.

Vernon Halton, executive director of the nonprofit Coal River Mountain Watch says the region experienced severe flooding in the 1990s and early 2000s, and says more valley fills, which involve dumping rocks, minerals and waste into nearby waterways, will put their lives at risk.

"It's going to permanently endanger the people whose homes are in the valleys below, he explained."

According to Environment America, valley fills permanently bury headwater streams and reduce water quality. More than 2,000 miles of headwater streams have been buried due to mountaintop removal.

Haltom added that communities continue to grapple with health challenges unparalleled outside of the coalfields.

"Higher rates of cancer, higher rates of heart disease, higher rates of birth defects, higher rates of other diseases, and most of them can be linked to the airborne dust that people are forced to breathe," he continued.

Research has shown breathing in toxic dust promotes the growth of lung cancer cells in people living in communities near mountaintop removal. Coal is mined in 22 of West Virginia's 55 counties, according to federal data.

A Knoxville environmental group is raising concerns over federal budget cuts and their effects on jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

The Trump Administration briefly laid off workers at the complex but called them back the next day.

Tanvi Kardile, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, warned the cuts, including layoffs at the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration, are troubling. She advocated shifting jobs from weapons production to environmental cleanup, citing ongoing efforts to address groundwater contamination, though she pointed out cost overruns and major concerns remain unaddressed.

"One of these cuts we feel should be the uranium processing facility, which is being constructed to replace, all these old, deteriorating buildings at Y-12," Kardile explained. "The budget for that keeps skyrocketing.
And this is one of the largest construction projects in Tennessee history."

Kardile emphasized the uranium processing facility is estimated to cost $10.3 billion and will not be complete in 2031. Initially, the project was expected to cost $6.5 billion and be finished by this year.

Kardile added her group is hesitant about Trump's statement expressing his intention to initiate nuclear arms reduction negotiations with China and Russia. The future of the U.S. nuclear weapons program remains uncertain as a result.

"Who knows if reduction talks will happen or how successful they'll be, especially with some other energy initiatives that he supports, such as discrediting climate change, promoting fossil fuels and drilling," Kardile outlined. "It doesn't seem like the administration will take many initiatives to protect the environment."

Kardile argued it is crucial for Tennesseans to push for greater accountability from the Department of Energy on the rising cost of Y-12 and collaborate with lawmakers to find the best path to allocate their tax dollars and protect public health.