BEAVER, W. Va. — Vonda Robinson’s granddaughter is only five years old, but she knows all about black lung. For as long as she’s been alive, she’s watched her grandfather
West Virginia coal miners and advocates spoke out this week in support of new silica dust exposure standards at a public hearing held in Beckley. Sam Petsonk, a labor and employment law attorney, said miners inhale fine silica dust when cutting into rock, and noted he has represented miners in their 30s and 40s with advanced black lung disease and progressive massive fibrosis. He contended the condition has become more common over the past few decades, largely due to lack of worker protections, and added while the new standards are an improvement, there is little oversight or enforcement written into the proposed rule. .