On April 16, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) amended existing rules to better protect miners from health hazards associated with toxic rock dust.
Silica dust or quartz dust, formally called respirable crystalline silica, is a carcinogen that causes serious diseases when inhaled, including black lung disease (also called silicosis), lung cancer, progressive massive fibrosis, chronic bronchitis and kidney disease.
On June 27, House Republicans passed a budget provision prohibiting DOL from using funding to enforce the revised rule, drawing a rebuke from Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America. He called the provision “a direct attack on the health and safety of coal miners” that “undermines the principles of fairness and justice that our country stands for.”
Roberts stated that Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, “represents a district with a significant number of coal mines and thousands of coal miners. This would indicate that he is prioritizing industry profits over the health and safety of the very workers he was elected to represent.”
Cases of black lung have been on the rise as coal becomes more difficult to access. Coal miners need to dig through more layers of rock to reach coal and, as a result, they are exposed to more silica dust, which is 20 times more toxic than coal dust.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that cases of black lung in Central Appalachia are the highest in 25 years, with as many as 20% of miners suffering black lung. According to DOL, workers who inhale these very small crystalline silica particles are at increased risk of developing serious silica-related diseases, including silicosis, an incurable lung disease; lung cancer; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and kidney disease.
If enacted, DOL’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) updated rule would lower the exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica from 100 to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air during an eight-hour shift.
DOL estimates that the change would result in 1,067 lifetime avoided deaths and 3,746 lifetime avoided cases of silica-related illnesses. The CDC has recommended a 50 microgram limit for silica dust since 1974, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration already imposes a 50 microgram limit for construction workers and other non-mining workers.
“It is unconscionable that our nation’s miners have worked without adequate protection from silica dust despite it being a known health hazard for decades,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Mining communities across the country should know that the Biden-Harris administration is determined to do what must be done to ensure that miners come home safe and healthy at the end of every day.”
The rule also enacted other protections for miners, including a requirement that mine operators monitor dust exposure and provide free health examinations for miners. Mines would have one to two years to comply with the new regulations, depending on the type of mine.
Attorneys for mining companies told Bloomberg Law that the changes may be burdensome for smaller mine operators. If mines fail to test at the required silica dust levels, they are required to do more frequent testing and self-report when dust levels are too high.
Coal mines already have to comply with rules like this one, but other mines will lack the infrastructure, attorneys say. For example, coal mines have dust sampling programs, whereas other mines will have to create those programs. Coal mines already must provide health checkups, but non-coal mines — particularly small ones — will be more impacted by the new requirements, attorneys claim.
Mine operators also won’t be allowed to use data from samples taken before enforcement of the new rule. “There’s no reason to ignore sampling results and a history of sampling,” said Brian Hendrix, an attorney who has represented mining companies.
Advocates for miners also took issue with mine operators’ monitoring and self-reporting silica dust levels, but for different reasons. Erin Bates, a spokesperson for the United Mine Workers of America, said asking mines to monitor their air quality is like asking drivers to enforce the speed limit.
Rebecca Shelton, director of policy of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center in Whitesburg, Ky., a group that has advocated for silica dust regulation, also was concerned about enforcement. According to Bates and Shelton, MSHA does not have the funding to regularly sample mines or hire enough inspectors to effectively enforce the rule.
