CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A higher percentage of West Virginia coal miners
test positive for black lung disease than the national average.
About 13 percent of the state's coal miners who've had chest X-ray
screenings are found to have the respiratory ailment, which is caused by
exposure to coal dust. The national average is 9 percent, according to the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
West Virginia is the nation's second largest coal producer and usually
accounts for up to 25 percent of the nation's black lung benefit applications,
said Richard Hanna, Charleston district director for the Department of Labor's
Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation.
Last year's number of claims from West Virginia -- 1,050 out of a total
4,900 -- came out to 21.4 percent.
More claims are filed when there's a downturn in the industry and miners are
getting laid off or retiring, said Hanna.
Hanna's office and another division office in Parkersburg administer claims
filed under the Black Lung Benefits Act. The act provides compensation to miners
disabled by pneumoconiosis and to their survivors. The miners can also receive
medical coverage.
The push for a federal black lung program came after the Farmington mine
explosion, which killed 78 workers in 1968, brought attention to working
conditions in coal mines.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Copyright 2008 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.