Miners protested against the proposed closure of over 30 field offices of the Mining Safety and Health Administration. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health faced severe staffing cuts under the Trump administration, with miners arguing that its research is vital for their protection. Union leaders announced a lawsuit against these cuts, citing risks to miners' health, particularly regarding black lung disease. Some NIOSH staff were reinstated, but ongoing research and investigations, particularly in Wyoming, remained unsettled, leaving miners concerned about silica dust exposure and its hazardous effects.
"For generations, the United Mine Workers of America has fought to protect the health and safety of coal miners and all working people," union president Cecil Roberts said in a statement announcing a lawsuit against the cuts in May.
"The dismantling of NIOSH and the elimination of its critical programs like black lung screenings puts miners' lives at risk and turns back decades of progress."
Cummings believes there is too little research to fully understand the toll silica exposure is taking on trona miners.
We know that silica does to people; it causes people to get their lungs cut up by jagged edges of a silica particle, and then they slowly die.
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