MORGANTOWN -- Living near a coal mine can be hazardous to your health.
At least that's the conclusion of West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx. He says people living in mining communities face higher risk of chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases.
WVU says Hendryx and Washington State University researcher Melissa Ahern found the risk of kidney disease rises 70 percent for residents of West Virginia mining communities. And they found the risk of emphysema and similar diseases is 64 percent higher, among other things.
WVU says the study found hospitalization rates rise with coal production and that coal pollution may kill 313 West Virginians a year.
The full study is to be published in the American Journal of Public Health next month.
Federal grant awarded to convert old company store into museum
KIMBALL, W.Va. -- A former coal company store in McDowell County is getting a new life as a tourist attraction.
Rep. Nick Rahall says the Federal Highway Administration has awarded a $729,604 grant to help convert the former Houston Coal Company Store building in Kimball into a coal heritage museum.
Rahall says the building also will be a tourist stop along the Coal Heritage Trail.
The red brick building was built nearly 100 years ago and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Coal Heritage Highway Authority Director Christy Bailey says the building is in good shape but it will need a heating and cooling system and cosmetic work on the inside.
Mountaineer quarry operation to commence
CHESTER, W.Va. -- MTR Gaming Group Inc. has made a deal with Ohio-based Independence Recycling of Cleveland to revive a long-dormant sand and gravel quarry.
The 251-acre quarry is along the river side of state Route 2, about an eighth of a mile from the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort.
Independence will run a quarry operation on 240 acres. The companies said Tuesday that work will begin April 1 and is expected to last five years.
Mountaineer will get half the profits, plus a royalty payment. The sand and gravel will likely go to nearby road projects.
Track officials could not immediately estimate the potential revenue. But they say the quarry won't affect future plans for a golf course and a residential housing development.
City approval needed in AK Steel contract
WEST CHESTER, Ohio -- AK Steel has approved a 20-year supply contract with SunCoke Energy to provide AK's Middletown Works with metallurgical-grade coke and electrical power.
The deal must still be approved by Middletown officials.
The coke and power would come from a new $340-million facility to be constructed, owned and operated by SunCoke adjacent to the Middletown Works.
SunCoke, based in Knoxville, Tenn., also is seeking economic incentives to build and operate the proposed plant, which would be capable of producing about 550,000 tons of coke and 50 megawatts of electrical power a year.
A zoning change and other city permits will be required.
Clear Channel shares plummet; buyout deal on brink of collapse
SAN ANTONIO -- Shares of Clear Channel Communications Inc. plummeted in late trading Tuesday, following a report that the media company's private buyout is on the brink of collapse.
Shares fell $1.89, or 5.5 percent, to end regular trading at $32.56, then fell more than
21 percent in after-hours trading to $25.60 -- far below the $39.20 per share the buyout firms promised shareholders.
Clear Channel is the largest radio station operator in the United States and owns about two dozen radio stations in West Virginia and eight in the Tri-State.
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