
From Daily Yonder:
To: Our Future President Obama/McCain
From: Betty Dotson-Lewis
RE: A request – eradicate black lung
My name is Betty Dotson-Lewis. I am from a small, rural, coalmining town in West Virginia. The natural rugged beauty of the mountains and the people and the rich coal deposits running through the mountain veins are something we could talk about all day, but I would like to address a serious problem hidden deep in those hollows.
Black lung.
Coal miners get black lung from breathing coal dust. The dust builds up in a miner’s lungs and gradually reduces his ability to breathe. Miners with black lung breathe short, raspy breaths. Black lung slowly strangles its victims. Black lung kills many more coal miners than explosions or cave-ins.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/mr-future-president-will-you-be-one-end-black...
Produced by NIOSH. This video tackles the issue of Black Lung Disease. Every Year about 1,000 miners die from coal workers' pneumoconiosis or 'black lung disease' caused by exposure to coal mine dust. These two miners share their stories and provide a little insight on how their lives have been changes due to this disease.
The Law Center prevailed in a Black Lung benefits dispute in the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The opinion affirmed an administrative law judge's award of black lung benefits to Edgar Huggins.
In December the Law Center agreed to represent the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club in an administrative case before the Public Service Commission (PSC) Administrative Case No. 2007-00477. The PSC initiated the case in response to legislation which directed the Commission to examine its statutes and make recommendations regarding four highly technical energy and regulatory issues:
In a letter dated April 8, 2008, MSHA responded to our petition for rulemaking on miners' rights:


Mine Safety Advocates Press MSHA for Better Miners’ Rights Training
A group of mine safety advocates is pushing the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to change how miners get training about their workplace health and safety rights. The Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment, the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, and United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities have filed a formal Petition for Rulemaking with MSHA in an effort to enhance miners’ rights training.
Miner seeking tighter limits on coal mine dust
Scott Howard, a Kentucky coal miner, has sued U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to try to force federal regulators to tighten the limits on coal mine dust that causes black lung disease.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200803210617
Suit seeks to force MSHA to tighten dust limit
By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer
A Kentucky coal miner has sued U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to try to force federal regulators to tighten the limits on coal dust that causes black lung disease.
Letcher County miner Scott Howard filed his suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in eastern Kentucky.