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Showing posts with label black lung. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black lung. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Bill to increase black lung benefits gets bipartisan local support, faces uphill climb in Congress

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Black lung disease, as depicted in the above  X-ray photo, has affected thousands of coal miners.  Efforts to increase those benefits have  ...
Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Tired of waiting for the Trump administration to enforce silica limits, coal miners protest

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Silica dust in coal mines causes black lung disease. (Adobe Stock photo) In response to the Trump administration's refusal to enforce fe...
Tuesday, September 09, 2025

Report: Coal dust from active mines is more toxic, but mining inspectors fail to sanction coal mine owners

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Healthy lung versus black lung. (CDC graphic) Despite increasing rates and severity of black lung disease in Appalachia, coal mining operato...
Friday, October 27, 2023

Doggedly investigating and reporting on coal, this reporter and his team are finally getting results

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Howard Berkes' investigations have helped change coal mining. (Photo by Wanda Gayle, Mt. State Spotlight) Why and when federal officials...
Wednesday, September 06, 2023

New silica-dust exposure limits aim to protect coal miners from black lung disease; data may not support that promise

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The CDC encourages miners to get screened for black-lung disease; the severest type is on the rise. (CDC graphic) A proposed federal soluti...
Monday, August 07, 2023

At hearing on mine-dust rule, miner advocates and industry find fault; next one is Thursday morning in Beckley, W.Va.

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Dr. Drew Harris demonstrates why temporary use of respirators may not protect miners. (Photo by Justin Hicks, LPM) The first of three hearin...
Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Labor Department proposes rule to give miners same protection against silica dust as those in other industries

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After decades of delay, federal regualators have  proposed to limit  the exposure of miners to silica dust to the same limits that apply to ...
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Stricter rules to prevent black-lung disease and fibrosis, 25 years in the making, are expected to be proposed soon

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Michael and Liz Williams pose for a photo outside their home in McRoberts, Ky. He mined coal for 40 years and has advanced- stage black lung...
Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Study confirms silica has driven uptick in black-lung disease

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A new study  has confirmed a widespread belief that the cause of black-lung disease in coal miners has shifted recently from coal dust to si...
Friday, March 11, 2022

Quick hits: Ginseng and Appalachia; why your brain likes forests more than cities; did you know about Manure Expo?

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Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at  he...
Friday, January 15, 2021

Quick hits: minor-league baseball getting squeezed by majors; FCC seeks input on pandemic telehealth program

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Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at hea...
Thursday, October 01, 2020

Former coal baron Bob Murray, who fought against black-lung regulations, has filed for black-lung benefits

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"Robert E. Murray, the former CEO and president of the now-bankrupt Murray Energy , has filed an application with the U.S. Department o...
Friday, April 10, 2020

Citing costs of pandemic, coal companies asks Congress to reduce coal tax that pays black-lung benefits

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Citing the economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic, coal companies are asking Congress to let them pay less of the excise tax that pays f...
Tuesday, March 03, 2020

Federal report shows that coal companies' bankruptcies shifted $865 million in disability claims to taxpayers

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"A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office revealed that shoddy government enforcement has allowed coal companies t...
Friday, February 28, 2020

Under change in Kentucky law, fewer coal miners qualify for black-lung benefits

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In March of 2018, Kentucky enacted  a law  that opponents feared would make it harder for miners to get compensation for black-lung disease...
Thursday, November 07, 2019

McConnell on bipartisan bill to protect coal miners' pensions

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A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Wednesday would "secure the pensions for nearly 90,000 retired coal miners as a recent wave of coa...
Monday, September 30, 2019

Top reporters on coal industry accept Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, tenacity, integrity in rural journalism

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Paul J. Nyden (deceased), Ken Ward Jr. and Howard Berkes Three leaders in coverage of the coal industry in Central Appalachia and elsew...
Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Coal miners urge Congress to replenish black-lung fund

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About 120 coal miners with black-lung disease and their families went to Capitol Hill Tuesday to ask lawmakers to fully restore a coal tax ...
Friday, July 19, 2019

As miners head to D.C. Tuesday to seek black-lung funds, NPR and PBS set screening of documentary on disease

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NPR and the PBS program "Frontline" will hold a special screening of their documentary Coal's Deadly Dust from 7 to 8:30 p...
Friday, July 12, 2019

Quick hits: black-lung program underfunded; media protest EPA's FOIA rule; does free trade lead to opioid ODs?

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Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at he...