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Sick Miners Press Trump to Enforce Stalled Silica Rule

Sick retired miners say delaying a stricter silica dust limit leaves them unprotected during a surge in severe black lung.

FILE - Dense smoke pours from the Mod's Run air vent of the No. 9 mine, where 78 miners were killed as a result of the mine explosion near Farmington, W.Va., Nov. 21, 1968. (AP Photo/File)
A train car carrying coal moves through Oak Hill, W.Va, at sunset on Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Crosses and grave markers are seen at the Hawks Nest Workers Memorial and Grave Site, Sept. 24, 2025, in Mount Lookout, W.Va. Silica created one of the worst occupational disasters in U.S. history when more than 750 miners — most of them Black — died from breathing the toxic dust while drilling the Hawks Nest tunnel in the early 1930s to divert water to power a metal plant. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Randy Lawrence, president of the Kanawha County Black Lung Association, stands outside his home wearing supplemental oxygen for black lung disease near Cabin Creek, W.Va., Oct. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Overview

  • MSHA approved a rule last year to cut allowable respirable crystalline silica exposure in half for miners nationwide.
  • Implementation was halted in April after industry groups asked a court to block the standard over costs and feasibility.
  • The administration did not contest the lawsuit, and deadlines slipped again in October during the government shutdown.
  • Dozens of former miners from central Appalachia traveled to Washington to protest the delay and recent rollbacks to health and safety protections.
  • The White House says miners’ safety can be maintained while easing regulations, even as black lung cases rise with increased silica exposure and the president advances executive actions to loosen pollution and permitting rules.