Regulation aimed at preventing black lung in miners could see funding removed

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) have spoken out against a budget provision that has been approved by a subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives and that would cut funding to a regulation aimed at preventing black lung in miners.

In April, the Department of Labor introduced the regulation that would enforce greater safety requirements and sought to cut down the amount of permissible toxic silica dust in mines by half. However, a subcommittee led by House Republicans has proposed striking funding for the rule, effectively making it unenforceable.

After increased regulations in the 1970s, black lung cases began to decrease, according to the National Library of Medicine. Since then, the trend has suddenly reversed with the number of black lung cases doubling since the late 20th century with some miners even catching the disease in their 30s.

Medical research attributes the sudden change to silica dust, which is more toxic than the coal dust miners were primarily exposed to in the past. As mines have dug through more rock to get to less accessible coal, miners have been exposed more to silica dust and therefore are more susceptible to black lung.

“It is something that needed to be addressed a decade to go, and it took this long for a rule to finally be finalized, and now they’re taking steps to prevent it from being funded,” UMWA Communications Director Erin Bates said.

No one from the subcommittee has offered a comment regarding the reasoning behind the proposal, but for Gary Hairston—a former miner with black lung and the President of the National Black Lung Association—this issue is personal.

“To me, it seems like they’re more worried about the companies and them than the coal miners. They say they’re for us, but to me, they haven’t proved that they are for us,” Hairston said.

The funding bill will move forward to the full House Committee on Appropriations on July 10.