PHOTO ESSAY: Coal miners with black lung fight Trump administration rollback of safety protections

OAK HILL, W.Va. (AP) — Deep in the rolling hills of West Virginia, coal mining and the dangers that come with it have been a part of family life for generations. Death and tragedy are steeped in history, but there is also a fierce legacy of miners fighting for – and winning – protections that benefited workers across the country.

As rates of black lung rise among workers — including those in their 30s and 40s — forced to dig through more rocks filled with deadly silica to reach the thin remaining seams of coal, some ailing retired coal miners in central Appalachia are fighting back. They are demanding that the Trump administration implement a rule approved last year by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration that would cut the federal limit on exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust in half to help protect all types of miners nationwide from the current driving force of black lung and other diseases.

The silica rule was suspended before it took effect in April after industry groups suing the government filed a request in court to block it, citing the costs and difficulties of implementing it. The administration took no action against the lawsuit and was granted another extension in October due to the government shutdown.

Dozens of former miners from the hard-hit region traveled to Washington last month to protest the delayed implementation of the silica rule as well as reductions and proposed rollbacks of health and safety protections. Their opposition comes months after President Donald Trump signed executive orders allowing coal plants to pollute more, streamlining the permitting process and opening new areas to mining production, including drilling for oil and natural gas and mining “beautiful clean coal.” At the time, it was celebrated at the White House by smiling miners wearing safety helmets,…