Miners and their advocates have long demanded stricter standards on exposure to silica, a leading cause of an epidemic of black lung. They’re still waiting.
Gary Hairston worked as an electrician in an underground coal mine for almost 30 years. It was hard, often grimy work. When a big machine called a continuous miner dug into the hard earth, it kicked up all kinds of dust. Slowly, Hairston began to notice that daily tasks wiped him out.