This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
A federal judge in West Virginia blocked the Trump administration on May 13 from firing workers who tested coal miners in Wyoming, and across the U.S., for deadly black lung disease.
The respiratory health unit, known as the federal Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP), typically approves job transfers for miners showing signs of black lung to keep them from getting sicker. The unit is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which falls under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Judge Irene Berger of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia issued a temporary injunction against the firings as a lawsuit against them proceeds. Twenty-five employees at the CWHSP unit were put on administrative leave and given termination notices last month.
Berger, who was appointed by former Pres. Barack Obama, wrote in her decision that only Congress has the power to alter a program it authorized.
Sarah Salveson-Jones is the program director of the Northwest Community Action Programs (NOWCAP) Black Lung Clinic, the only facility of its kind in the state. Weeks before the injunction protecting the unit, she told Wyoming Public Radio she would miss the unit’s data collection.
She said it was useful to show Wyoming coal miners that black lung is not a disease of the past.
Wyoming cases have ticked up in recent years as toxic silica dust grows more common in underground and surface coal mines. Silica is blamed for an epidemic of severe black lung in the U.S.
Though surface mining is the predominant method for extracting coal in Wyoming, multiple scientific studies show surface miners can get sick with black lung too, not just underground miners.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
