Chester Fike was just in his 30s when he was diagnosed with black lung. As the disease progressed, the West Virginia coal miner was eventually so incapacitated that a simple walk with his family was impossible. In the summer of 2012, four months after a double lung transplant raised hopes for a second chance, Fike lost his fight for life at 60.
The following was posted on Saturday, Dec. 6: One hundred seven years ago today in Monongah, West Virginia, 362 coal miners – many of them teenage boys — went to work and never came home. That morning, an explosion ripped through two connected mines.
New respirable dust regulations that are intended to reduce the incidence of black lung disease among miners take effect today, over the objections of the National Mining Association (NMA), which calls them “one-size-fits-all approach” that won’t deliver real worker protections.
The National Mining Association (NMA) has asked a federal appeals court to review the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) regulation for the control of coal dust in underground coal mines, contending that the rule “embodies fundamental legal and technical infirmities in its scope, foundation and framework.”
Among the many items on the federal government’s recently-released fall regulatory agenda are nine belonging to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Two of them are in the final stage of rulemaking.
The Mobile Air Shower by HalenHardy (MASHH), which removes hazardous silica dust from workers clothing during oil and natural gas completions operations, will be introduced at the Shale Insight Conference in Philadelphia on Sept. 24-26.
Black lung disease rates going in the wrong direction
August 6, 2013
Frustrated by rulemaking foot-dragging on the part of the Obama administration, West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced a bill that would impose a deadline on the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for finalizing a proposal to reduce respirable dust limits in mines.
The Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) has issued a new proposed rule for the construction industry on how to identify and control worker exposure to respirable silica and other rock dust.
A study of the lung tissue of miners killed in the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster has determined that most of the victims had black lung disease – adding evidence to the belief that the deadly disease is experiencing a resurgence in the U.S.