New data in a letter from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reveals that underground coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from black lung at the highest rates since the 1970s.
One in three coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia with at least 25 years of experience tested positive for black lung, according to federal data.
And Virginia is a focal point, according to Howard Berkes, a longtime NPR reporter who recently analyzed the data.
"The clinic that sees more coal miners testing for black lung disease and identifies more black lung disease is in Southwest Virginia -- Stone Mountain Health Services," Berkes says. "Because they offer a complete range of services from testing and respiratory therapy and also legal services to help miners apply for black lung benefits, they draw miners from all over Appalachia."
Those services and the clinic's location mean Stone Mountain draws a disproportionate percentage of coal miners with black lung.
"Stone Mountain has seen about 30% of all the coal miners seen by federally funded black lung clinics throughout the country," Berkes says. "That's a pretty big chunk of what's going on out there that's happening in Virginia."
Justin Hicks of Kentucky Public Radio says Mine Safety and Health Administration data reveals that about 1,500 miners work underground in Virginia coal mines, potentially exposing them to toxic silica dust -- a contributing factor to progressive massive fibrosis, also known as complicated black lung disease.
Berkes says the situation is "horrific" and an example of how federal regulations have failed.
"I've spent a lot of time in my career covering government regulation, so I have an understanding of how regulation can fail people in workplaces," Berkes says. "And to me, there is no clearer example of failed regulation than what's happening with black lung disease in coal miners."
