"The coal business is archaic," said Moapa Paiute tribal member Vernon Lee. "It was good for the past, but it doesn't fit with the future. It's polluting, and it's polluting some more, and it's polluting some more beyond that. And unfortunately, this tribe is in direct line of fire." | Ami Vitale/Panos Pictures Vernon Lee in front of the Reid Gardner Generating Station. "There aren't very many elders left, because people don't grow old anymore," he said. | Ami Vitale/Panos Pictures Vernon Lee at the Moapa tribal cemetery. "Last year we averaged one funeral every two months," he said. "That's out of about 200 people who live here." | Ami Vitale/Panos Pictures

Vernon Lee
Moapa, Nevada

There's a lot of funerals. Last year we averaged one funeral every two months. That's out of about 200 people who live here. I don't know what it's going to be like here in another 10 or 20 years. There may be very, very few elders. That's just the sad truth.

It's my belief that decades of exposure to that coal ash has turned us into damaged people. It's got to be a contributing factor. Anytime the wind blows this way, we get a direct hit. And we're so close it doesn't have time to dissipate, so it's heavily laden with all these bad things. Mercury. Arsenic. Lead.

As people started discussing it among themselves, it was undeniable that something was going on. There was a lot of lupus, a lot of thyroid problems. Kids were suffering from nosebleeds. Everybody had asthma and allergies. A lot of people with lung problems.

All the suffering going on here, they don't include that in the cost of cheap coal. (Interviewed July 2012)

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