Federal Officials Unveil New Rules Regulating Silica Dust Levels in Mines

Earlier this week, federal officials unveiled new rules protecting miners from silica dust, a toxic component that gets trapped in lung tissue causing scarring and inflammation. Silica is found in abundance on earth and is roughly 20 times more toxic than coal dust. It is commonly found in the quartz that surrounds coal seams.

This is a growing issue in mines that has left some individuals sick and even caused some individuals to die. Researchers have, for decades now, recommended that exposure to silica dust be limited and regulated so overexposure is avoided.

The new rules impose exposure limits applied to every worker in the United States in mining operations. Chris Williamson, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, stated that no miner needed to sacrifice their lungs or overall health to provide for their families.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) acted on the situation after a joint investigative report was conducted by NPR, Public Health Watch, Mountain State Spotlight, Ohio Valley ReSource and Louisville Public Media. The report exposed several issues: the ongoing overexposure to silica dust; the severity and fatal nature of black lung disease; how the disease affected thousands of young miners; and failure by mine-safety regulators to respond to this issue for decades.

The investigations determined that since 2010, more than 4,000 cases of black lung disease were registered, with hundreds of deaths being recorded.

In a statement, Julie Su, acting secretary of labor, said that it was unconscionable that miners in the U.S. worked without sufficient protection from this toxic component despite the fact that it was a known hazard.

MSHA published the entire text of the new regulations in the federal register this week.

The new rules require mining companies to change working conditions when the presence of silica dust is noted to be excessive and monitor the air miners breathe while working. Any instance of overexposure must also be reported.

Cecil Roberts, global president of the United Mine Workers of America, stated that this was a crucial step in keeping miners healthy and safe. Roberts noted that the focus would now shift to holding mining companies accountable.

Mining companies shall be afforded time to adjust to the new changes, with coal mines being given 12 months to prepare. Other mines, referred to as metal/nonmetal mines, will have two years to adapt to these changes. Metal/nonmetal mines will also need to conduct dust sampling in addition to health surveillance programs with regular examinations to detect lung disease caused by silica inhalation while it’s still in the early stages. The results of these exams must be presented to NIOSH.

Coal extraction companies such as Alliance Resource Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) will now have to adhere to these new rules on silica dust due to be enforced by federal authorities after the grace period stipulated.

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