The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is formally proposing new limits on the amount of coal dust in surface and underground mines, with the ultimate goal of ending the deadly disease known as black lung.
The proposal would halve the permissible amount of coal dust in mines, from 2 milligrams per cubic meter of air to 1 milligram, over a period of two years.
The proposed rule changes come as deaths from black lung, an affliction that has plagued coal miners for decades, are on the rise. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has reported that 9 percent of miners who worked in mines for at least 25 years tested positive for black lung in 2005 and 2006, a figure that more than doubled over 10 years. All told, more than 10,000 miners have died of black lung in the past decade, according to federal government estimates.
“This proposed rule takes concrete steps to end the terrible disease of black lung and will improve miners’ lives,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, whose department is home to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Similar proposals were made by federal agencies during both the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations, but the rules never were put in place.
Industry groups have long contended that the key to preventing black lung is enforcement of existing safety rules, not reducing allowable levels of coal dust.
Independent experts, however, applauded the proposal, saying it was a long-overdue improvement. “The only cause of black lung disease, of the type that we’re seeing, which is called massive fibrosis, is dust,” Dr. Edward Petsonk, a pulmonary expert with West Virginia University, told West Virginia Public Radio. “There’s no other cause for it. So the control of dust is what needs to be done, and I think the MSHA proposals are very thoughtful and have been well-established scientifically and should be effective.”
The proposed rule faces a 60-day public comment period.
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