Silica dust has replaced coal dust as the silent killer down mineshafts in Appalachia. More miners are developing respiratory illnesses sooner in their careers because they have to cut through more rock to reach ever-depleting coal seams. The resulting silica dust in the mines has been linked to surges in black lung, lung cancer, kidney disease, COPD and cardiovascular illnesses.
Attempts to combat the problem hit another roadblock this week, at least temporarily.
The Biden administration tried to address the issue last year, implementing new restrictions on silica dust levels in mines based off of recommendations from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Bear in mind that NIOSH made those recommendations back in 1974, which shows that implementing them has been the white whale of many a presidential administration, Republican and Democratic.
In fact, when the new rule was announced last year, United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil Roberts hailed the policy but warned that it would be challenged.
He’s been right. The measure nearly faltered a few months after it was announced because it was part of a budget appropriation package that got batted around in the Republican-controlled House.
Months after clearing that hurdle, a federal judge has put a stay on the new silica dust rule just days before the compliance deadline. The injunction was requested by industry lobbyists, led by the National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association, according to a report from the Gazette-Mail’s Mike Tony.
The dispute is an old one. Corporate interests don’t want production costs to go up as a result of tighter safety measures, while miners would, quite rightly, prefer not to contract a condition which puts them on an oxygen tank by age 40 and slowly suffocates them to death. This battle has been fought over countless other issues for as long as coal has been mined in the United States. No wonder Roberts was able to predict the trajectory of the new safety rule so accurately.
Here’s hoping the pause is short, and miners get the on-the-job protection they deserve. These workers face so many dangers every day, often exacerbated by poor working conditions that skirt around regulations.
It’s simply inhumane to do nothing in the face of an obvious problem that is affecting Appalachian miners disproportionately, especially when it was identified as a problem more than 50 years ago.
