Indian Country is disproportionately impacted by energy facilities
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Filed Under:
Environment
|
Health
|
National
More on: coal, energy, epa, moapa, nevada
About 10 percent of all power plants in the U.S. are located within 20 miles of reservations, the Associated Press reports.
According to the AP, many of the 51 plants are aging -- they are more than a half-century old.
They affect 50 reservations, including the one that's home to the
Moapa Band of Paiute
Indians in Nevada.
“Everybody is sick,” Vicki Simmons, a tribal member, told the AP. Her brother worked at the
NV Energy coal-fired power plant that's next to the reservation before he died of heart problems when he was 31.
The
Environmental Protection Agency says pollution from coal-fired plants poses a bigger threat to children and the elderly.
Parents on the Moapa Reservation say their kids are afraid to play outside.
Get the Story:
The power plant next door: Indian tribes disproportionately exposed to energy development
(AP 7/4)
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Moapa Band starts
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Blog: Moapa Band battles pollution at coal-fired
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William Anderson:
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