Donald Trump seeks to be the "Coal Miner's President," promising coal miner's more jobs and a rise to middle-class status. Since his election he has blocked implementation of a directive prohibiting coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams and rivers. This will allow the coal-mine barons to resort to lower cost strip mining versus underground mining. This has the effect of both fewer coal mining jobs and the dumping of toxic wastes into the nearby environment, poisoning water supplies.

Kentucky and West Virginia, prime coal mining areas, already have cancer-related deaths over one-fifth more than Connecticut. So increased strip mining and dumping of toxic coal debris will lead to increased health risks and less jobs for coal miners and their families.

So the coal miners have in place what they helped elect, a president who supports big money over the working man and as Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, has said about Trump's support of Wall Street, “a fraud.”

Edward Pellegri

Waterford