Regulators Resist Call For Action In Response To Black Lung Epidemic

The nation's top coal mine safety regulator told members of Congress Thursday that existing safety regulations are sufficient to protect miners from toxic dust, despite calls for change amid an epidemic of advanced black lung disease among coal miners in Appalachia.
Assistant Secretary of Labor David Zatezalo, testifying before the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, said sampling from coal mines shows a 99% compliance rate with rules designed to limit workers' exposure to silica, the dust blamed for the disease outbreak.
He said his agency expects studies "will confirm that dramatic increases in sampling and compliance translate into reduced black lung incidents going forward."
But a pulmonologist who has spent decades studying the disease countered with the results of new studies suggesting the epidemic is not subsiding.