'No job should be a death sentence.' U.S. labor secretary unveils new mine safety rules near Uniontown

Federal officials on Tuesday packed a Fayette County union hall to announce new mining standards on silica dust — part of an effort to stem a rising tide of black lung and other respiratory diseases being diagnosed at a rate American miners haven’t seen in 50 years.

The new rule, which goes into effect next year, caps miners’ exposure to silica dust — the sometimes white, sometimes pink particles produced when cutting rock such as quartz — at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air during an eight-hour shift. For reference, NASA said a typical droplet of rain weighs about 33,000 micrograms.

If a miner exceeds the limit, the company running that mine will face immediate corrective actions, including fines.

Prolonged exposure to silica dust, which has grown increasingly common as coal miners cut through more rock to reach coal seams, can cause black lung, other lung diseases and cancer, medical experts have said.

Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su’s comments capped nearly 90 minutes of speeches at the United Mine Workers of America’s district office in South Union Township outside Uniontown. Standing behind a wooden podium, she told a conference room packed with 20 to 30 federal officials and miners that the U.S. government knew silica was dangerous as early as the 1930s.

Union staff and black lung awareness advocates clung to doorways and nearby halls to hear the speeches, several of which drew standing ovations.

“(Union members) have been sounding the alarm about occupational diseases — like silicosis, like black lung — for decades,” Su said. “We do not get to this point without advocacy from people over a lot of time.”

“Today, we’re making it clear that no job should be a death sentence,” she added.

Federal officials estimate the rule will help avoid 1,067 deaths and 3,746 cases of silica-related illnesses.

Rates of black lung have more than doubled in the past 15 years, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health data shows.

Black lung today kills about 1,000 miners a year. Today, one in five veteran coal miners in central Appalachia will be diagnosed with black lung disease. Hundreds more will face other respiratory diseases related to their occupation.

Related:

• Black lung: Government, advocates eye new federal silica-dust standard to stem resurgence among coal miners

Dustin Surber, a Greene County man who started working in a coal mine in 2010, reveled in the fact that Su — a Biden administration Cabinet member — trekked to a Pennsylvania union hall to talk policy.

“In the labor movement, the union world, something like that means everything, it means the world,” Surber, 39, of Waynesburg, said with a smile. “Listening to Secretary Su speak about her thoughts and compassion — I hadn’t really heard that before in politics.”

Surber admitted he’s been fortunate.

He works as a diesel motor operator — “kind of like a train conductor on an underground locomotive” — in Greene County’s Cumberland Mine. He isn’t often exposed to health-endangering elements like coal or silica dusts.

“The guys that are up in the face, doing the new mining, dealing with the dust and the rock, this is pretty pivotal to them,” he said.

Coal miner Dave Dayton, who also attended Tuesday’s announcement, stressed the rule only will be as good as its enforcement.

“I think there’s some teeth to this ruling,” said Dayton, 52, of Fairmont, W.Va., who’s worked in West Virginia mines for 16 years. “Now, they’re going to have to monitor.”

Su said that the Mine Safety and Health Administration has hired about 270 inspectors during the Biden administration to aid with enforcement.

Dayton was tasked with introducing some of the speakers on Tuesday. He appeared nervous, fiddling with a paper in his hand, and explained that he had little public-speaking experience.

“I’m not good at reading off this paper,” he interjected at one point. “I’m probably not the best one to do this. But I’m gonna do it anyway.”

The room erupted in applause.

In addition to new mandatory silica dust sampling — once at least every six months or when mine conditions change — the rule compels metal and nonmetal mine operators to start free, medical surveillance programs to examine minors, the labor department said.

The rule also bars companies from simply mandating respirators as a way to keep miners safe from high levels of silica dust, officials said.

Harry Colisino, a fourth-generation coal miner, said he had two family-sustaining job choices in West Virginia: the mines or the U.S. Postal Service.

When Colisino started working 14 years ago at Marion County Mine, formerly known as Loveridge Mine, he didn’t want to tell his dad, a 43-year coal-mining veteran. When he did talk with him about the job, the two didn’t speak for weeks.

Though the Carolina, W.Va. native said he prefers that his own son become a doctor or lawyer instead of a coal miner, he said work underground is changing for the better.

“(The final rule) is going to force companies to put more emphasis on dust controls,” said Colosino, 44. “Let’s put the money into it … If they don’t, they’re going to be fined. And that’s gonna get their attention.”

Southwestern Pennsylvania is home to the largest underground coal mine complex in North America: the Pennsylvania Mining Complex, located in Greene and Washington counties. The Consol Energy-owned facility produces about 28.5 million tons of coal each year — more than half the coal Pennsylvania produced in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

Chris Williamson, the federal mining agency’s assistant secretary, on Tuesday praised area miners, who “have worked hard and sacrificed, including with their health.”

“Miners should never have to choose between sacrificing their lungs or providing for their families,” he said.

Black lung, or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, occurs when miners inhale coal dust. Over time, continued exposure to coal dust scars the lungs, impairing the ability to breathe, according to the American Lung Association.

When miners inhale silica, a carcinogen, they can develop serious lung and other diseases, such as silicosis, lung cancer, progressive massive fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and kidney disease, federal officials said.

Because coal seams are less easily accessible than in previous decades, miners now must cut through more rock, federal mining officials told TribLive. More rock cutting, accordingly, leads to more silica dust.

Silicosis diagnoses worldwide jumped from 84,821 cases in 1990 to 138,965 cases in 2019, a 2023 BMC Public Health study found.

Mixing coal and silica dusts also can cause black lung, which is irreversible, can be fatal — and is also preventable, officials said.

“For too long we accepted this as just the way things are for people who work in mines,” Su said. “Not on our watch.”