Coal mining
‘Putting the fox in charge of the henhouse:’ Miners, advocates concerned over proposed silica rule
BEAVER — Vonda Robinson’s granddaughter is only five years old, but she knows all about black lung. For as long as she’s been alive, she’s watched her grandfather cart around an oxygen tank that helps him breathe. “She knows how to turn it on, how to turn it up, she knows everything and she’ll tell […]
NIOSH to offer coal miners free black lung screening in Morgantown next week
Coal miners can get screened for black lung disease next week during a three-day event at Mylan Park in Morgantown. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will offer free black lung screenings to coal miners from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 through 27 at Mylan Park, according […]
Methane from underground coal mines upends rural West Virginians’ lives, livelihoods
THORNTON, WEST VIRGINIA — Month-old kittens scamper around, tumbling into one another on the grass. A black-and-white border collie, Maggie, nestles against the side of a farmhouse and nurses a puppy. Beef cattle graze on the hillside behind the house, which has been vacant since last summer — when, without warning, the water well went […]
Attorneys file new agreement to collect safety fines from Justice companies
Following five consecutive months of not paying, attorneys for coal companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family entered a filing in federal court this week once again agreeing to pay up on past-due penalties for mine safety violations. The fines total $4,776,370 and are from mine safety violations cited between 2014 and 2019. […]
Proposed silica dust rule could protect miners from black lung, federal officials say
A proposed federal rule change aims to protect miners’ health by limiting exposure to respirable crystalline silica, or silica dust. Exposure to mixed coal mine dust that contains silica — a carcinogen — can lead to the development of pneumoconiosis, commonly known as black lung disease. Black lung cases have been on the rise, and […]