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To the litany of (mostly environmental) objections to mountaintop removal, the coal mining technique that involves blasting the top off mountains, add this one: it's probably linked to birth defects. A new study of 2 million health records in Appalachia found that kids born near mountaintop mining operations suffered higher rates of an array of central nervous system, musculoskeletal, urogenital and circulatory and respiratory problems, reports Mother Jones. This and more in the latest Daily Threat Assessment.
