Black Lung
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Category archives for Black Lung
New study shows black lung and silicosis among U.S. surface coal miners, not just a problem for underground miners
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 19, 2012 A x-ray surveillance program finds nearly four dozen cases of coal workers pneumoconiosis among surface coal miners in the U.S., while coal operators including Alpha Natural Resources and CONSOL Energy insist that workers on strip mining jobs aren’t exposed to enough dust to cause disease.
Upper Big Branch Families plead for Congressional action on mine safety
Posted by The Pump Handle on June 11, 2012 A delegation of family members who lost loved ones in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine met with senators and representatives of both political parties to urge them to pass legislation for stronger penalties for upper-level officials who violate safety laws.
Mitt Romney’s idea of freedom: businesses free to do whatever they darn well please?
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on April 17, 2012 Mr. Mitt Romney spoke this weekend at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention and kicked off his remarks applauding the gun-lovers group’s defense of the 2nd amendment to the Constitution. “This fine organization is sometimes called a single-issue group,” Romney said. “That’s high praise when the single issue is freedom. I love my freedom…
Two years ago today, 29 men died in a West Virginia coal mine
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on April 5, 2012 “When the world came to an end” is how Joshua Williams described being inside the Upper Big Branch coal mine at 3:02 pm on April 5, 2010. He knew several crews of coal miners were much deeper inside the dark tunnels than he. An ominous feeling. Coal dust explosions are powerful and deadly. Eight days…
Cost of work-related injury and disease higher than cost for heart disease, cancer
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on January 20, 2012 Money talks, as the saying goes, and a recently published paper on the annual cost of work-related injuries and illnesses should get policymakers to listen up. The number is staggering: $250 Billion, and it’s a figure on par with health conditions like cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes that attract much more attention and research…
Congressional Appropriators ignore what Upper Big Branch miners showed us about black lung disease
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on December 16, 2011 [Updated 1/4/12 below] The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. pointed me yesterday to the latest attack on working people. House and Senate negotiators have apparently come to an agreement on an FY 2012 spending bill (165-page PDF) which includes funding for the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Tacked onto the bill are…
MSHA should scrap any plan to wait for OSHA action on respirable crystalline silica
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 25, 2011 Before too long the US Department of Labor (DOL) and other federal agencies should be issuing their annual regulatory plans and semi-annual agendas. These documents serve as official public notice of agencies’ regulatory (and deregulatory) priorities. The Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order (EO) 12866 direct agency heads to release these documents in April (agenda)…
Coal mining industry insisted on new dust sampling technology, now they don’t want MSHA to use it
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on October 19, 2011 It’s too late for Ronald Martin of Dema, Kentucky. “I’m in last stage of black lung,” he wrote in shaky script, “please help the miners so they won’t suffer like I suffer. I can’t breathe but a little.” Mr. Martin sent his note to the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to comment…
House Republican Appropriators don’t think coal miners need protection from black lung disease
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 30, 2011 Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and his Republican members of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Labor Department don’t think coal miner deserve better protection from black lung disease. In their FY 2012 appopriations bill they would prohibit the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from using any funds to develop, promulgate, enforce or…
No matter what mining industry reps say, MSHA’s proposed rule to address black lung is easily achievable
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on July 19, 2011 Thanks to Ken Ward at Coal Tatto for alerting me to a hearing conducted last week in the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Overight and Government Spending, of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called “EPA’s Appalachian Energy Permitorium: Job Killer or Job Creator?” The majoirity of the witnesses were at the ready…