NEWPORT NEWS, Va — Some residents in Newport News say a 19th-century energy source has caused harm to their communities for too long.
Uneita Scott says her earliest memories of coal dust started when she was eight.
"My older sister and I would play and we would see coal on the windowsills," said Scott. "It was nothing for us to see coal on the ground and our mother would fuss because when we would come in our feet would be dirty from the coal."
At the time, Scott said she thought nothing of it until her older sister, Erica, became ill.
"Her diagnosis was a coal miner's lung so they had to amputate it for her to have a healthy life. At 14 years old, doctors verbatim said she had the lung of a 30-year-old that worked in the coal mines," said Scott.
Yugonda Sample-Jones says her son developed asthma shortly after moving to the city.
"My son and I started getting information about what asthma is and where it comes from and we realized it was an effect of the coal dust," said Jones.
In 2005, the Peninsula Health District did a study surrounding coal in Newport News.
Adrian Wood is with the University of Virginia's Repair Lab. It's a department within the school that focuses on racial and environmental injustice.
"Asthma rates downtown were double that of Newport News as a whole and also double that the state of Virginia," said Wood. "We can't attribute that directly to coal dust but we do know that asthma rates are higher they were higher then and since then coal export has increased,"
Hampton Roads is home to two major coal export terminals, according to Wood.
"And together, they are the biggest coal exporter in the U.S. In 2019, they exported a quarter of America's coal. It's gone up since then, especially now with coal coming from Baltimore with the Key Bridge Collapse, we are exporting more than ever," said Wood.
On Saturday, Empower All, a for-profit organization that focuses on social justice and environmental issues in Newport News, discussed coal dust pollution.
Jones, the CEO of the group, thinks the air needs to be cleaner. She says it will require community support.
"The most important piece is educating the community, whether we are sending letters showing up at city council and showing our government that we are not letting go we want our clean air," said Jones.
