FROM THE COALFIELDS

Larry Bush, a former miner and mine inspector and a Vietnam veteran, says living in one of Virginia’s coalfield towns today gives one the same experience of post-traumatic stress syndrome he experienced after the war. “Our water is poisoned. We have asthma. Our homes and families are being destroyed. People around here are living in fear.
A lot of people around here feel helpless. No matter what we do, they mine anyway. Where is it written that I have to give up my home, my health, and my water so someone else can get rich?”