NPR Points to Government Failures in Preventing Black Lung
Today National Public Radio (NPR) is running a powerful story by Howard Berkes, one of their investigative reporters who has been central to documenting the resurgence of black lung. (See previous posts here, here, here, and here.)
The must-read or -listen piece, “An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It” was done in collaboration with a great group of reporters from NPR, FRONTLINE, the Ohio Valley ReSource, and Mine Safety and Health News.
The piece shows that government regulators—in particular, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)—knew about the risks of silica exposure among coal miners for decades but didn’t prevent it. This is important because silica in coal-mine dust appears to be the leading factor in why severe black lung has spiked in recent years.
Berkes and his team explain this regulatory failure not only through government documents, but also through the stories of young Kentucky coal miners whose days are being cut far too short. Take a read or listen.