Coal’s Deadly Dust
A joint investigation with Frontline and NPR, examining the rise of severe black lung disease among coal miners, and the failure to respond. This joint investigation revealed the biggest disease clusters ever documented, and how the industry and the government failed to protect miners.
Frontline PBS: Coal’s Deadly Dust,
January 22, 2019
The Frontline Dispatch: Struggling For Breath In Coal Country,
January 24, 2019
An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It, NPR, December 18, 2018
'I Figured It Was Going To Be A Horrible Death, And It Probably Will Be'
NPR, January 23, 2019
Regulators Resist Call For Action In Response To Black Lung Epidemic,
NPR, June 20, 2019
Coal Miners To Demand Congress Restore Full Black Lung Benefits Tax,
NPR, July 23, 2019
Calls For Change Follow NPR/'Frontline' Black Lung Investigation,
NPR, January 22, 2019
Reaction Stories & Interviews
Data Dives And Shoe Leather: How NPR’s Howard Berkes Investigated Appalachia’s Black Lung Epidemic, NPR, December 18, 2018
Who Is Caring For The Health And Safety Of Coal Miners?, 1A, December 19, 2018
Coal miners have been inhaling deadly silica dust for decades. Now they’re dying, PBS NewsHour, January 22, 2019
The Black Lung Disease Epidemic That “Shouldn’t Have Happened,” The Allegheny Front, February 22, 2019
Mtn. Talk: How National Media Misses the Mark on Appalachian Communities, WMMT 88.7 Mountain Community Radio, July 9, 2019
Before Black Lung, The Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster Killed Hundreds, NPR, January 20, 2019
Aspen Public Radio Air Time, December 26, 2018
Coal’s Deadly Dust, RadioWest, January 21, 2019
Coal’s deadly reality: Heartbreaking TV doc reveals the dangerous truth about modern mining, The Globe & Mail, January 20, 2019
Next Administration Could Mean New Safety Regulations For Coal Mines, NPR, December 1, 2020
Returning to the Investigation in 2023
Federal Fix for Silica Dust Understates What We Found: Thousands of Coal Miners Still Sick and Dying
https://publichealthwatch.org/2023/08/31/the-federal-fix-for-silica-dust-understates-what-we-found-thousands-of-coal-miners-still-sick-and-dying/
Impact: Federal Mine Safety Agency Considers Tougher Response to Silica Dust After Public Health Watch Report
https://publichealthwatch.org/2023/10/04/impact-federal-mine-safety-agency-considers-tougher-response-to-silica-dust-after-public-health-watch-report/
As coal miners suffer and die from severe black lung, a proposed fix may fall short
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/07/1210051981/coal-miners-black-lung-silica-dust-rule
The Sunday Story: Coal's deadly dust
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/19/1198909283/coals-deadly-dust