A new rule proposed by the Labor Department could help limit coal miners' exposure to a toxic dust called silica.
“The purpose of this proposed rule is simple: prevent more miners from suffering from debilitating and deadly occupational illnesses by reducing their exposure to silica dust,” Chris Williamson, assistant secretary for mine, safety and health, said in a statement. “Silica overexposures have a real-life impact on a miner’s health.”
Williamson has said the proposal was inspired, in part, by FRONTLINE and NPR’s 2019 investigation, which exposed a link between silica dust and an epidemic of severe black lung disease.
Our documentary Coal’s Deadly Dust highlighted the resurgence of black lung — and how federal regulators and the industry had failed to protect miners.
“Struggling for Breath in Coal Country” was originally released alongside the film in 2019. In this archival episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, correspondent Howard Berkes spoke with coal miners whose lives were forever changed when they were diagnosed with the disease.
Coal’s Deadly Dust is streaming at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel.
Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.
The Search for Ukraine’s Missing Children
Investigating a Massive Online Leak of Government Secrets
Stuck in a ‘Fractured’ System
Democracy on Trial, Part Four: Inside the White House on Jan. 6
Democracy on Trial, Part Three: An “Invitation” for Jan. 6
Democracy on Trial, Part Two: A Pressure Campaign and a Warning
Democracy on Trial, Part One: A Blueprint For the Case Against Trump
‘Democracy on Trial’ Director on the Roots of Federal Charges Against Trump
Reconstructing the Uvalde Shooting Response
Underage Workers in New England’s Seafood Processing Industry
Documenting the Siege of Mariupol (re-release)
The Big Dig, Part 1: We Were Wrong (GBH News)
Shattered Dreams of Peace: The Road From Oslo (Full-length Film Audio Track)
Looking Back at the Houston Astros Cheating Scandal
From Russian Newspaper Editor to ‘Foreign Agent’
Locked Up for Life After ‘Two Strikes’
Documenting the Siege of Mariupol
‘Dangerous Trucks’ on America’s Roads
Texas After Uvalde
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
FRONTLINE: Film Audio Track | PBS
American Masters: Creative Spark
PBS Washington Week with The Atlantic - Full Show
NATURE on PBS
The War | PBS