Gaming the system — Part III

In 2021, the Government Accountability Office found big problems with the Labor Department’s current rules because they do not require sufficient collateral to cover both current and future black lung liabilities.

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Gaming the system — Part II

Congress stated clearly that coal operators, instead of taxpayers, would shoulder the cost of black lung when it set up the Black Lung Trust Fund. The trust fund was intended to be a backstop for miners rather than a means for coal operators to underinsure their liabilities.

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Gaming the system — Part I

At its core, this is the age-old story of corporate greed whereby rapacious mine operators, who have subjected generations of miners to disabling and fatal black lung disease, managed to transfer their responsibility to pay black lung benefits to suffering coal miners from their corporate coffers to the taxpayer’s pockets.

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Expired mining permit poses risks to Coal River Mountain and surrounding communities

area at risk of mining, shown near adjacent mountaintop removal mine

Contact: Sumer Shaikh, sumer.shaikh@sierraclub.org Erin Savage, erin@appvoices.org, 206-769-8286 Vernon Haltom, vernon@crmw.net, 304-952-4610 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Today, a coalition of groups filed a federal lawsuit against mining company Republic Energy seeking to halt unlawful coal mining activities in Raleigh County, W.V. Republic Energy is mining one of the only remaining intact ridges on the heavily mined…

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