"Former Kentucky miners described being pressured to cover up coal dust monitors meant to protect them. New research shows a resurgence in black lung disease. "
"OWENSBORO, Kentucky — Michael "Flip" Wilson spent most of his adult life working deep underground in the coal mines of Western Kentucky. Now 63, he suffers so badly from black lung disease that he doesn't have the breath to play in the yard with his grandchildren.
He earned a good wage from his last employer, Armstrong Coal: $27 an hour plus bonuses and overtime—not bad for a farm kid who dropped out of school before the eighth grade, he said. But when he came forward with safety complaints, including describing how miners felt pressured to cover up the monitors they used to measure and limit their exposure to dangerous coal dust, his relationship with Armstrong turned sour.
He knew the practice well, he said, because he had done it himself."
James Bruggers reports for InsideClimate News July 11, 2018.
