Despite court order, black lung screening program still not fully functional
There are no funds to operate a mobile X-ray unit and the agency is missing contract workers to read chest X-rays.
black lung
Federal officials call miners’ health a ‘priority,’ but are cutting a Pa. team studying mine safety
A roughly 100-person team at a NIOSH facility in Allegheny County are set to lose their jobs in June. They study the best ways to prevent injuries, illnesses and death in coal mines.
Federal Mine Safety Regulators Finally Focus on Silica Dust – With Thousands Of Miners Sick And Dying
Addressing a problem first identified 50 years ago, federal regulators filed new rules to limit miners’ exposure to silica dust.
Climate law has a hidden benefit for coal miners: Permanent funding for Black Lung
The Inflation Reduction Act made permanent the tax on coal that funds benefits to coal miners with black lung disease. In Pennsylvania, 2000 miners have the debilitating disease.
Black lung patients, advocates urge mine safety officials to update silica dust standards
A new study shows silica dust exposure is causing black lung disease in coal miners. The federal mine safety administration is working on a new standard.
Bob Murray, Coal Operator Who Fought Regulations and Filed for Black Lung Benefits, Has Died
Murray’s companies fought against safety rules meant to prevent the fatal disease. He ran the largest privately-owned underground coal mining company in the US.
How Miners With Black Lung Disease Are Navigating the Pandemic
Living with Black Lung disease, a death sentence for coal miners, is devastating. COVID is making it worse.
The Black Lung Disease Epidemic that ‘Shouldn’t Have Happened’
An NPR investigation into the regulatory failures — and the human costs, including to Pennsylvania miners — of a disease that has been described as "suffocating while alive."
8 Black Lung Indictments Allege Coal Mine Managers Lied About Health Safety
Former Kentucky miners described being pressured to cover up coal dust monitors meant to protect them. New research shows a resurgence in black lung disease.
Living With Black Lung: Coal Miners Caught in the Epidemic
These miners' willingness to talk openly about their experiences provides a window into what life is like for the many Appalachian miners still struggling with the disease.
