Utah Doctors Join the Occupy Movement

Taking inspiration from the Occupy movement, in late December a group of doctors and environmental groups in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced a lawsuit against the third-largest mining corporation in the world, Rio Tinto, for violating the Clean Air Act in Utah.

This is likely the first time ever that physicians have sued industry for harming public health.

Air pollution causes between 1,000 and 2,000 premature deaths every year in Utah.

 

 Open pit copper mine run by London-based mining conglomerate Rio Tinto/Kennecott in Bingham Canyon, Utah.  It is the world's largest open-pit mine and has created the world's largest mining-related water pollution problem. (Photo: arbyreed)