Already, miners have successfully proposed by the Trump administration to close more than 30 field offices run by the Mining Safety and Health Bureau, the branch of the Labor Bureau that implements safety standards.
Another government office, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), faced about 90% staffing under Trump. Miners pushed back, claiming that Niosh’s research was necessary for protection.
“For generations, United Miners in America have fought to protect the health and safety of coal miners and all workers,” Federal President Cecil Roberts said in a statement in which he issued a lawsuit against the cuts in May.
“The dismantling of Niosh and elimination of its important programmes, like screening for black lungs, puts the lives of miners at risk and causes decades of progress.”
Some of the Niosh workers have been revived. Others weren’t. The upheaval left some research in states like Wyoming.
Cummings, a representative of the United Steelworkers Union in southwestern Wyoming, was among those seeking Niosch’s help. He was concerned about the possibility that miners like himself could be exposed to high levels of silica dust, a known carcinogen.
“We know what silica does to people,” Cummings told Al Jazeera. “We know that people cut their lungs off by the jagged edges of silica particles and then die slowly. They lose the same quality of life as those who work on the surface.”
Cummings believes there is too little research to fully understand the Toll Silica exposure employed by Trona Miners.
Already, Trona Miners work in extreme conditions. Their mines have been cut deep into the earth. One of Wyoming’s biggest tronaut pits is plunging into a depth of 1,600 feet or 488 meters. They are stacked on each other deep enough to swallow three full-size copies of Giza’s great pyramids.
Cummings was also disappointed to find out that the new rules scheduled to go into effect in April were pushed back until at least mid-August.
This rule would have reduced the acceptable levels of silica dust in the mines. Severe exposure is linked to respiratory illness. Black Lung – The lungs, a potentially fatal condition caused by lung scarring, are increasing in Wyoming, as all over the United States.
For Cummings, the blame hangs straight on the shoulders of mining executives who think they’re more interested in their wallets than their employees’ health. He believes that delays in the silica rules are part of their political maneuvering.
“Pauses aren’t just about pauses,” Cummings said. “It gives employees the opportunity to completely abandon this rule, rather than to employees, that’s not acceptable. That’s not acceptable.”
Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, represents some of the industry leaders who opposed the new rules. He explained that they felt the silica rules were “a bit excessive.”
“I know a lot of our people have a bit of heartburn, and that may be a little too far,” Detty said.
He noted, for example, that coal mines differ from the Appalachian region and that they differ in Wyoming. Appalachian miners have to tunnel to harvest fossil fuels, but Wyoming has some ground mines with little excavation.
“My peers feel they will alleviate their silica problems properly,” Detty said.
