Retired West Virginia coal miner Terry Lilly, who has black lung, speaks all through a public listening to hosted by way of the federal Mine Protection and Well being Management about its draft rule to restrict employee publicity on Thursday.

Leah Willingham/AP

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Leah Willingham/AP

Retired West Virginia coal miner Terry Lilly, who has black lung, speaks all through a public listening to hosted by way of the federal Mine Protection and Well being Management about its draft rule to restrict employee publicity on Thursday.

Leah Willingham/AP

Former coal miner Terry Lilly sat down in entrance of a panel of federal regulators and struggled to talk.

“Excuse me, I’ve bother respiring. I am at 40 p.c of my lung capability,” he mentioned.

Lilly, who suffers from the fatal illness black ling, confirmed up on the listening to Thursday close to Beckley, W.Va., within the center of Appalachian coal nation, to give a boost to a proposed rule that may prohibit the volume of fatal silica mud within the air in coal mines.

The issue of serious lung illness from silica mud has been getting worse lately, and has been affecting more youthful miners.

Together with his phrases punctuated by way of gulps of air, Lilly talked concerning the deception he had observed over 30 years within the business, together with tampering with mud samples.

“I am as to blame as any of them for hiding mud samples,” mentioned Lilly. “Dishonest on samples is what we wish to prevent. If shall we prevent this, shall we avoid wasting lives.”

Lilly and others confirmed up on the listening to to inform the government to place mine operators on a tighter leash.

“The one factor that mining corporations perceive is cash,” mentioned hard work legal professional Sam Petsonk. “They do not perceive or admire the blood and the lives of miners, as a result of in the event that they did, they’d have secure miners willingly over the past a number of a long time.”

The listening to earlier than a Division of Hard work panel used to be known as to speak about a proposed new rule that may prohibit the volume of unhealthy silica mud within the air in coal mines and different mines.

In coal mines, silica mud will get into the air when machines reduce into rock layers that encompass coal deposits.

Because the coal deposits had been mined out over a long time, extra rock is reduce and extra silica mud will get into the air. The ones tiny debris can hotel within the lungs completely and motive a serious type of black lung illness.

A 2018 investigation by way of NPR and the PBS program FRONTLINE discovered that complicated black lung illness used to be extra prevalent than federal screens had idea, and that miners have been uncovered to unhealthy ranges of silica 1000’s of instances over a 30-year length.

The proposed new rule would at once control silica within the air for the primary time.
Petsonk, who represents miners in black lung and different instances, advised regulators he thinks the guideline will have to require extra air tracking and will have to comprise specifics about citations and fines.

“A rule with out consequences isn’t any rule in any respect,” he mentioned.

However the panel’s moderator, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations Patricia Silvey, driven again. Whilst the proposed rule itself “does no longer care for consequences,” she mentioned consequences may just practice however if a mine operator is cited for violating the brand new silica same old.

Plus, Silvey mentioned, “If an overexposure happens, an operator completely will have to do 3 issues instantly: Take rapid corrective motion, make a report of that overexposure, after which resample to peer if that corrective motion is operating.”

One debatable a part of the proposed legislation would permit mine operators who’ve an excessive amount of silica within the air to proceed having their staff paintings within the hazardous spaces, whilst dressed in a respirator masks. Researchers have challenged the effectiveness of mask to stop unhealthy silica publicity.

“Respirators are successfully a Band Assist within the state of affairs however they are an useless and impractical resolution when mud ranges are prime,” mentioned Dr. Leonard Move, a College of Illinois pulmonologist.

As he testified, Move seemed across the room and noticed a large number of coal miners, and their beards.

The ones beards get in the way in which of respirators. So does a sizzling, loud and strenuous paintings setting the place miners generally tend to take off their respirators to speak or to take a breath.

“Reliance on respirators in the true international is a mistake, offering a false sense of safety {that a} miner is secure from silica publicity,” Move mentioned.

As for Lilly, he says he continuously talks to more youthful miners and warns them concerning the risks they face.

“It is too past due for me. However I would like those younger folks to appreciate, they wish to get up. One in all nowadays, you’ll be able to be like me – you’ll be able to’t stroll around the parking zone.”

A public remark length at the proposed rule ends on 11th of September. Regulators rebuffed calls by way of business pursuits to increase the remark length for 2 months and as a substitute prolonged it by way of 15 days.

The Hard work division will cling a 3rd and ultimate listening to concerning the proposed silica rule in Denver later this month.

Justin Hicks of Louisville Public Media contributed to this file.