environmental pollution

The “Appalachianization” of rural America and around the world

Power and Politics in Health Care, Remaining Challenges, Stories / By

John Gaventa discusses the “Appalachianization” of rural America, a trend of rising inequality, poverty, environmental damage, and deficit of public services across the U.S. No longer the exception, Gaventa emphaszies injustice in the Clearfork Valley as being relevant to the global stage, too–such as in Mozambique and Nigeria, mineral-rich countries where absentee land ownership and …

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On the interplay between land ownership and mineral rights

Power and Politics in Health Care, Stories / By

John Gaventa clarifies the interplay between surface land ownership and the exploitative acquisition of below-ground mineral rights by large coal companies in Appalachia. He cites The American Association, a British company that at one time owned 80,000 acres across Clairborne, Bell, Campbell, and Whitley Counties in East Tennessee, as a prime example of absentee corporate …

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Findings of the 1971 land ownership study and subsequent legal action

Power and Politics in Health Care, Stories / By

John Gaventa elaborates on initial findings from the 1971 land ownership study and what transpired in response. With documented evidence of inequitable corporate control over land and natural resources (due in large part to unfair property taxation practices and the absence of proper mineral rights assessment), local citizens sought legal action. These included (but were …

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Population decline and water runoff in southwest Virginia: Bonnie Blue

Pre-Existing Conditions, Remaining Challenges, Stories / By

Howard Elliot III, grandson of Howard and Elsie Elliot from St. Charles, Va., elaborates on how steady population decline in southwest Virginia has created barriers to his work relocating rail lines. He names Bonnie Blue as a good example of why justification for the expense of construction projects like these is increasingly difficult to secure. …

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ETRC’s lawsuit against Davidson County Health Department

Impact of SHC, Stories / By

John Williams shares ETRC’s successful lawsuit against the Health Department in Davidson County. The effort was collaborative alongside other environmental organizations, including Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), and initiated as a means to mandate the monitoring and enforcement of water pollution runoff from abandoned strip mines.   Full footage of the 2017 ETRC panel featuring …

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Vista member, Jeff Summerville (right), works alongside community volunteer on the Memphis Greenway.

The Student Environmental Health Program

Origin Stories, Stories / By

Barbara Clinton delineates the incitement of Vanderbilt’s Student Environmental Health Program following discovery by SHC participants of widespread water contamination in several rural and inner city communities across Tennessee. This student-led organization attracted those from hard science disciplines to tackle the environmental issues underpinning a number of health problems in the surrounding area. Recorded on …

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Diane Lauver

People, Student Health Coalition Participants, Theme: Expanding Practice, Theme: Expanding Practice - People, Theme: Health Care, Theme: Health Care - People, Themes / By

Contributed by Diane Lauver, February 2018 Growing up, I was close to my paternal grandparents; they lived in a pastoral valley looking at Appalachian hills in a northern state. With their 8th grade educations and practical wisdom, they taught me how to garden and “put up” its produce. My maternal grandparents worked for a travel …

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