A federally funded mine safety research team based near Pittsburgh is being disbanded this month, despite government claims that coal miner protections will remain intact.
Ian Karbal reports for Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
In short:
- A National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) team in Allegheny County focused on preventing mining injuries and deaths is being eliminated, alongside a similar group in Spokane, Washington, amid Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agency-wide budget cuts.
- Although over 300 NIOSH employees were reinstated after backlash and a lawsuit, the Pittsburgh coal mine safety division was not among them, leaving key research — including silica dust monitoring and virtual reality disaster training — unfinished.
- Advocates argue the cuts violate legal mandates under the Mine Act, and while further lawsuits are possible, researchers are lobbying lawmakers directly to preserve their work.
Key quote:
“I don’t know how you can say that you’re maintaining essential services for coal workers and miners when you’re cutting the divisions that mainly do the research and provide the services to prevent mine injuries, illnesses and fatalities.”
— Brendan Demich, NIOSH employee and chief steward of the union representing NIOSH workers in Pittsburgh
Why this matters:
Coal mining remains one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, and the research that informs life-saving practices — like real-time dust monitoring, mine roof stabilization, and explosion protection — has historically come from federally funded teams like the one at NIOSH in Pittsburgh. Their work has helped cut fatality rates dramatically over the past century. As mines dig deeper and encounter more volatile conditions, the risks to miners grow, especially from substances like silica dust, which is tied to rising rates of black lung and silicosis among younger workers. When the government walks away from its role in researching and mitigating these hazards, that burden falls to private industry — an industry with little incentive to invest in costly innovations that may slow down production.
Related: The cultural legacy of coal mining and its relevance to renewable energy
