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After decades of delays and broken promises, coal miners hail a rule to slow the rise of black lung
By: Leah Willingham | Matthew Daly | AP
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A half-century ago, the nation’s top health experts urged the federal agency in charge of mine safety to adopt strict rules protecting miners from poisonous rock… Read More
A tax to provide benefits to black lung victims is permanent, but might not fix all the fund’s problems
By: Justin Hicks | Ohio Valley ReSource
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HAZARD, Ky. (OVR) — It’s early in the morning outside a Hampton Inn in Hazard, Ky. A bright blue-and-white RV covered in larger-than-life portraits of coal miners sits smack in the… Read More
Black lung patients and advocates urge mine safety officials to update silica dust standards
By: Katie Myers | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource · Black lung patients, advocates urge mine safety officials to update silica dust standards CABIN CREEK, W.Va. (OVR) — Jerry Coleman mined West Virginia coal underground for… Read More
Researchers say they’ve linked silica dust directly to severe black lung disease
By: Robert Benincasa | NPR
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — Exposure to a toxic rock dust appears to be “the main driving force” behind a recent epidemic of severe black lung disease among coal miners, according… Read More
Study Shows Bias, Conflicts Of Interest Among Doctors Who Read Black Lung X-rays
By: Curtis Tate | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Doctors hired by coal companies in black lung cases are far less likely to diagnose the disease in X-rays than are independent doctors or those who are hired by coal… Read More
Lawmakers, Union Urge Mine Safety Regulators to Act on Silica Dust
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (OVR) — A group of Ohio Valley senators says a watchdog agency’s recent report shows that federal regulators must do more to protect coal miners from silica dust, an… Read More
Federal Watchdog Finds Coal Safety Regulator Not Protecting Miners From Silica Dust
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (OVR) — The Mine Safety and Health Administration is not doing enough to protect coal miners from deadly silica dust, according to a new report from the Department of… Read More
Bob Murray, Who Fought Black Lung Regulations As A Coal Operator, Has Filed For Black Lung Benefits
By: Brittany Patterson | Dave Mistich | Ohio Valley ReSource
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SAINT CLAIRSVILLE, OH (OVR) — Robert E. Murray, the former CEO and president of the now-bankrupt Murray Energy, has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor for black… Read More
Remembering A Miner Who Personified Coal’s Contributions And Costs
By: Jeff Young | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Charles Wayne Stanley ran underground mining machines for some 20 years, cutting coal from beneath the hills where Virginia meets Kentucky along the Cumberland ridge. He spent another decade as… Read More
UMWA Wants More Coronavirus Protections for Coal Miners
By: Brittany Patterson | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The United Mine Workers of America is asking federal regulators to set uniform, enforceable guidelines to help protect coal miners from contracting COVID-19. In a letter dated Tuesday, March 24, UMWA President… Read More
Black Lung Benefits Drop for Kentucky Coal Miners after Controversial Law Change
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Lynn Estel Stanley was the kind of coal mine foreman who wanted to know if there was a safety problem, and would always be the one to go fix it… Read More
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… 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… 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… 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… Read More
Federal Agency to Hear Comment on Silica Dust as Black Lung Epidemic Rages
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The Mine Safety and Health Administration will host a public meeting Thursday as it considers action on regulating respirable silica, one of the major contributors to Appalachia’s skyrocketing rates of… Read More
New Kentucky Memorial Honors Miners Who Died Of Black Lung
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Coal miners and family members of miners who have died from black lung disease gathered Sunday in Whitesburg, Kentucky, to dedicate a new memorial to miners who perished from the… Read More
As Disabled Miners Hit D.C., Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Fund Black Lung Benefits
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation Tuesday to provide additional funding for coal miners suffering from black lung. The bills came as a contingent of Appalachian miners afflicted with the… Read More
Miners to Advocate for Money for Black Lung Trust Fund
By: Associated Press
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SOUTH WILLIAMSON, Ky. (AP) – As black lung disease surges in Appalachia, some coal miners are going to Washington, D.C., to lobby for restoration of a tax that coal companies… Read More
As Congressional Panel Focuses On Black Lung, UMW Urges Stronger Health Protections
As Congress hears testimony on the epidemic of black lung disease among Appalachian miners, two labor leaders are calling on Congress and regulators to do more to protect miners. In… Read More
As Calls For Action On Black Lung Disease Grow, Regulators Show Little Indication Of Change
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Harold Sturgill was disabled by black lung disease when he was 58 years old. Now he advocates for disabled miners. “When it comes to the mining companies, and it comes… Read More
Remembering A Coal Miner Who Stood Up For Those With Black Lung
By: Jessica Lilly | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Robert Bailey started mining coal in southern West Virginia’s McDowell County in the 1970s. By the time he retired from the Patriot Coal Company 36 years later he was already… Read More
West Virginia Coal Miners Rally For Black Lung Legislation
By: Brittany Patterson | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Miners and advocates rallied Wednesday at the West Virginia Capitol in support of a series of bills aimed at preventing and treating severe black lung disease. Five bills introduced by… Read More
Calls For Change Follow NPR/Frontline Black Lung Investigation
By: Howard Berkes | NPR
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Federal regulations for silica dust in coal mines haven’t changed in decades. But since an NPR/Frontline report into black lung, some are calling for a new response.
Still Fighting: These Widows’ Stories Show Larger Effects of Black Lung Epidemic
By: Sydney Boles | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Nancy and Rich Potter had the kind of marriage that made other couples jealous. He’d take her on spontaneous trips. She’d wear her Daisy Dukes just for him. Joyce Birman… Read More