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Scientists, Mine Safety Officials Discuss Black Lung Protections
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Officials with the Mine Safety and Health Administration met for the first time with miners’ health researchers Wednesday in a new partnership designed to discuss ways to better protect coal miners from the dust that causes black lung disease. In future meetings, representatives from the two agencies will discuss recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences… Read More
CEO Ousted at Kentucky Aluminum Company Amid Questions About Controversial Funding
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A controversial economic development project in Ashland, Kentucky, hit a snag last week as aluminum company Braidy Industries ousted CEO and board chairman Craig Bouchard. In a statement, Braidy Industries’ interim CEO said he appreciated Bouchard’s hard work for the company. Bouchard says the firing was improper and is refusing to step down. The dueling… Read More
Bankrupt Blackjewel Coal Still Racking Up Environmental Violations, Officials Warn
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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An attorney for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet told a federal judge Wednesday that the bankrupt coal company Blackjewel has accrued nearly 300 environmental violations since it entered bankruptcy in July. “It’s essential that these violations are addressed, abated, and that they stop accruing,” Cabinet attorney Lena Seward told bankruptcy judge Frank Volk in the… Read More
Grocers in Rural Coal Country Struggle to Stay in Business
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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There’s a picture frame on the wall next to the customer service desk in the IGA in Inez, Kentucky. Inside the frame is a scrap of beige meat-counter paper, on which a man named Derle Ousley sketched the layout for an ad announcing the opening of his very first grocery store. “Inez Supermarket Grand Opening,”… Read More
More Unpaid Appalachian Miners Stage a Coal Train Blockade
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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For the second time since summer, eastern Kentucky coal miners are blockading a railroad track to protest unpaid wages. The new blockade, which was started Monday afternoon by Quest Energy miners, echoes the months-long blockade by Blackjewel coal miners over the summer and speaks to a growing discontent in Appalachian coal country. “It’s hard to go… Read More
Study Shows Surface Coal Miners are Exposed to Toxic Dust that Causes Black Lung
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Appalachian surface coal miners are consistently overexposed to toxic silica dust, according to new research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and surface mine dust contains more silica than does dust in underground coal mines. The research is the first to specifically analyze long-term data on exposure to toxic silica dust for workers… Read More
Mountain Air: Youth Help Identify Causes of Ohio Valley’s High Lung Disease Rates
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Isabella Back, 18, pulls her jacket tight around herself as she crosses the gravel driveway. “So we’re going about 10 feet from my house to my dad’s workshop,” she says, and pushes through a door in a big, red barn. The Kona, Kentucky, shop is crowded with cluttered work tables and hulking machines, and the… Read More
MSHA Comment Period Shows Divide on Measures to Protect Miners Health
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The comment period has closed for the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule on respirable silica, a major contributor to skyrocketing rates of lung disease among coal miners. The 49 relevant comments included a striking testimony from an anonymous coal miner sharing details of the ways in which current mine operators cheat on dust… Read More
Black Lung Trust Fund Likely Burdened by Murray Bankruptcy
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The recent bankruptcy of Murray Energy is likely to significantly increase the debt of a struggling federal trust fund that supports disabled miners’ health care expenses. According to court filings, Murray Energy could be responsible for as much as $155 million under the Black Lung Act and general workers’ compensation, but testimony from the Government Accountability… Read More
Blackjewel Miners Get More of Their Pay as Labor Dept. Acts Against Bankrupt Company
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Coal miners who went without pay when mining company Blackjewel declared bankruptcy this June are one step closer to receiving lost wages. The checks come weeks after some of the miners ended a long-running protest, and months after the federal Department of Labor first intervened to allege the company violated labor laws in the month… Read More
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