Word: coal
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...five years, at 200 locations around the U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been studying mussels, oysters and bottom- dwelling fish, like flounder, that feed on the pollutant-rich sediment. These creatures, like canaries placed in a coal mine to detect toxic gases, serve as reliable indicators of the presence of some 50 contaminants. The news is not good. Coastal areas with dense populations and a long history of industrial discharge show the highest levels of pollution. Among the worst, according to Charles Ehler of NOAA: Boston Harbor, the Hudson River-Raritan estuary on the New Jersey coast...
...state economies are so robust, of course. Unemployment in West Virginia stands at 9.7%, largely because of a loss of jobs in the coal industry and manufacturing. In Kentucky the rate is 8.6%. Yet almost everywhere, summer travel has brought a labor crunch in the resort and recreation industries. Dishwashers, floor sweepers and busboys have become as rare as teenagers in summer school. Says Cheryl Winters, manager of the Gwinnett County office of the Georgia department of labor: "There are essentially no domestic workers. They have gone with the wind." The situation . is not expected to improve over last year...
Thornburgh governed his state through one ofthe toughest economic periods in its history. Hardhit by economic recession and the decline of itssmokestack industries in coal and steel,Pennsylvania's unemployment rate reached seventhhighest in the nation when he took office...
...office workers can worry about the health hazards of poor air circulation, imagine how coal miners feel about it. When dust and methane gas accumulate in underground mines, the hazards range from explosions to lung disease. That is why thousands of miners turned out at hearings last week to protest proposed changes in federal rules that they believe would relax their fresh-air safeguards. Among the revisions being considered by the Government's Mine Safety and Health Administration: allowing methane levels in some mines to be monitored by electronic devices instead of human inspectors...
...staffers say the changes would bring no reduction in safety, the United Mine Workers union is staunchly opposed. Making use of a one-day so-called memorial period that is provided in their contracts, as many as 5,000 miners last week attended hearings in Birmingham, one of six coal- country sites where the proposals will be debated...