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Evacuations underway after barge slammed into Pelican Island bridge in Galveston, causing oil spill; Regional program helps Chicago-area communities become 'EV Ready'; MI leaders mark progress in removing lead water lines; First Amendment rights to mass protest under attack in Mississippi and beyond.

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Speaker of the House Johnson calls the Trump trial 'a sham', federal officials are gathering information about how AI could impact the 2024 election, and, preliminary information shows what could have caused the Francis Scott Key Bridge crash.

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Americans are buying up rubber ducks ahead of Memorial Day, Nebraskans who want residential solar have a new lifeline, seven community colleges are working to provide students with a better experience, and Mississippi's "Big Muddy" gets restoration help.

Advocates: New silica dust rule 'missed opportunities' to curb black lung

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Monday, April 29, 2024   

After the Biden administration released a new rule setting standards to limit exposure to silica dust, advocates in Kentucky and around Appalachia argued it is not enough to stem the region's black lung epidemic.

The new rule shrinks in half the allowed exposure limit for crystalline silica during an eight-hour shift.

Rebecca Shelton, director of policy for the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, who represents miners in federal black lung disability claims, said while the rule is beneficial since silica dust exposure standards have not been updated in decades, miners are cutting through increasing amounts of rock to get to coal seams, breathing in more and more toxic dust.

"In the last decade or so, we have seen miners who are younger than ever before, and also sicker, coming through our doors because of this exposure to silica," Shelton observed. "Silica dust itself is more toxic than just coal dust alone."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said modern-day coal miners are at greater risk of developing respiratory disease than their predecessors, likely driven by increasing silica coal mine dust inhalation.

Shelton pointed out the new rule also requires quarterly sampling and stronger record-keeping requirements by coal operators, with little oversight for compliance and a heavy reliance on the coal industry's willingness to participate.

"Mine operators are going to be responsible for kind of self-auditing, and periodically evaluating the conditions in the mine to assess whether silica dust levels may be increasing, whether they may need to conduct more sampling," Shelton explained.

According to the group Appalachian Voices, one in five tenured miners in Central Appalachia has black lung disease and one in twenty lives with the most severe and disabling form of black lung.


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