Dust story wasn’t news

I read the Jan. 21 story ["Waiting for the dust to settle"] regarding Mr. Bailey’s dust problem to see why it was worthy of front-page headlines. After I read the story, I don’t think it was even newsworthy. Mr. Bailey knew about the dust problem before he decided to move there.

His relatives were already living with the dust problem. He made the decision to expose himself and his family to the dust and the responsibility lies with him and not with the coal plant. The coal company has already gone far beyond what it should have done to appease Mr. Bailey.

He is not different from the people who move near an airport and then complain about the noise or the city folks who move to the country near farms and then complain about the odors. As long as no laws are broken, nobody should expect their neighbors to change their property or activities when they were known or should have been known before the move to the neighborhood.

Ken Osborne
Marion, Va.