
Expected new silica dust regulations in mines could combat the rise of black lung disease. However, the effects of an ongoing federal silica enforcement initiative remain unclear.
The Appalachian Voice
Expected new silica dust regulations in mines could combat the rise of black lung disease. However, the effects of an ongoing federal silica enforcement initiative remain unclear.
Frustrated with constant coal dust, residents of Eunice, West Virginia, asked the state to install an air quality monitoring device in their community. The request was denied.
As residents of the Eunice community in West Virginia grapple with coal mine dust, regulations governing air pollution offer little help.
Changing the structure of a tax that funds federal benefits for miners could bring tens of millions of dollars annually to the cash-strapped Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
Despite a national coal downturn, mining has not slowed much in Raleigh County, West Virginia, where companies have proposed two new mountaintop removal coal mines.
Virginia regulators initiated bond forfeiture at two coal mines owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice. The regulators cited failure to pay penalties and chronic environmental and public safety violations.
Coal company bankruptcies are putting the federal Black Lung Disability Trust Fund in further jeopardy.
A tax on coal companies funding benefits for former miners with black lung disease was halved at the first of the year.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to the operators of Collins Fork Surface Mine in February.
Kopper Glo Mining is seeking a second permit to release pollution from its nearly 1,500-acre proposed Claiborne County, Tenn., strip mine into public waterways. Attendees at a public hearing voiced a number of concerns.