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Dust circles a worker during the construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel in 1930. Workers on the project were exposed to toxic levels of silica dust; hundreds ultimately died.

Before Black Lung, The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster Killed Hundreds

By: Adelina Lancianese | NPR
Posted on: Monday, January 21, 2019

One of the worst industrial disasters in American history is a forgotten example of the dangers of silica, the toxic dust behind the modern black lung epidemic in Appalachia.