coal mining

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Mercury Levels in Tuna Just as High as in 1971
Mercury Levels in Tuna
Just as High as in 1971
NEW STUDY
Mar 2, 2024 1:20 PM CST

Mercury Levels in Tuna Just as High as in 1971

Despite environmental efforts, methylmercury levels remain unchanged

(Newser) - Despite decades of pollution controls put in place to reduce mercury in the atmosphere, researchers have learned that tuna contains the same high levels of the toxic substance that it did 50 years ago. This likely comes from old accumulations of mercury, which is being stirred up to the shallower...

Court Ends Moratorium on New Coal Leases

Ruling concerning federal land is a loss for environmental groups

(Newser) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands in a move that could open the door to future coal sales from vast, publicly owned reserves of the fuel that's a major source of climate-changing greenhouse gases. The ruling from a three-judge...

Workers at This Company's Sites Keep Dying

At least 21 dead in coal mine fire in Kazakhstan, the latest in tragedies striking ArcelorMittal Temirtau

(Newser) - A coal mine fire in central Kazakhstan killed at least 21 workers, while another 25 remained unaccounted for on Saturday, operating company ArcelorMittal Temirtau said in a statement. Some 252 people were working at the Kostenko coal mine at the time of the blaze, believed to have been caused by...

Coal Mine Blast Kills 41, Union Calls It a 'Massacre'

'A frightful scene' in Amasra, Turkey, after Friday explosion

(Newser) - Funerals for miners killed in a coal mine explosion in northern Turkey began Saturday as officials raised the death toll to at least 41 people. Desperate relatives had waited all night in the cold outside the state-owned Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise's (TTK) mine in the town of Amasra, in...

Union Slams 'Outrageous' Order to Pay Coal Company $13M

United Mine Workers of America plans to challenge decision on costs caused by strike

(Newser) - A federal oversight board has ordered the United Mine Workers of America to pay more than $13 million in compensation to an Alabama coal company whose members have been on strike for more than a year, a ruling the union said Wednesday it would challenge. The National Labor Relations Board...

52 Miners and Rescuers Die After Methane Gas Explosion

Siberian officials say there's no chance of finding more survivors

(Newser) - Update: This file has been updated throughout with new information about casualties and details of the explosion. A devastating blast in a Siberian coal mine Thursday left 52 miners and rescuers dead about 820 feet underground, Russian officials said. Hours after a methane gas explosion and fire filled the mine...

How Coal Country Is Quietly Changing
A New Role Awaits
Men in Coal Country
longform
Sep 15, 2019 2:00 PM CDT

A New Role Awaits Men in Coal Country

In one Kentucky county, it's women who bring home the bacon

(Newser) - Welcome to Letcher County in Kentucky, where coal's decline is changing time-honored gender roles. As men struggle to find work, women are entering a field in need of people—health care—and bringing home relatively small but still invaluable paychecks, the New York Times reports. "The mines have...

Kentucky Curbs Black Lung Claims Amid 'Epidemic'

State says only certain doctors can diagnose the disease

(Newser) - Kentucky miners with possible black lung disease, bad news—you may have less chance of getting state compensation, NPR reports. That's because Kentucky lawmakers just passed House Bill 2 , which keeps federally approved radiologists from diagnosing the disease and leaves it mostly to doctors often employed by coal companies....

Ex-DOE Staffer: My Rick Perry Photos Got Me Fired

Photographer says there was retaliation after he leaked pics of meeting between Perry, coal baron

(Newser) - Snapping photos of a meeting attended by Energy Secretary Rick Perry was part of Simon Edelman's role as a Department of Energy photographer. Yet he says he lost his job for doing just that, and ensuring the photos were seen. In an interview with the AP , Edelman says he...

Coal Museum Goes Solar to Save on Energy Costs

Kentucky facility raises eyebrows with decision

(Newser) - Don't look to the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum to bring coal back. The museum is installing solar panels on its roof, part of a project aimed at lowering the energy costs of one of the city's largest electric customers, the AP reports. It's also a symbol of...

Obscure Act, Used Only Once, Could Undo Obama Rules

House Republicans voted to repeal 2 regulations

(Newser) - Moving to dismantle Barack Obama's legacy on the environment and other issues, House Republicans approved a measure 228-194 Wednesday that scuttles a regulation aimed at preventing coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams. Lawmakers also voted 235-187 to rescind a separate rule requiring companies to disclose payments...

No Miracles: 33 Trapped Miners Found Dead in China

All bodies have been recovered

(Newser) - All 33 coal miners trapped underground by a gas explosion in China have been found dead, reports the AP . Two of their fellow miners made it to safety in the aftermath of Monday's blast, but rescuers working around the clock found no others alive. All bodies have been recovered,...

Coal Exec Sentenced to Prison Over Explosion

Blankenship gets 1 year over blast that killed 29

(Newser) - A former coal CEO must go to prison for one year and pay $250,000 for his role in skirting safety rules prior to a mine explosion that killed 29 of his employees. Don Blankenship, who was running Massey Energy at the time of the 2010 blast in West Virginia,...

36 Killed, Including 5 Rescuers, in Russia Mine Blast

Methane gas leak led to explosions

(Newser) - A total of 36 people were killed at a coal mine in Russia's far north where a methane gas leak triggered three explosions that resulted in a raging fire and the collapse of the mine, officials said Sunday. The dead include five rescue workers and a miner who were...

Obama Puts New Obstacle in Coal Industry's Way

President to announce stop to new coal-mining leases on federal land

(Newser) - During his SOTU address Tuesday, President Obama forewarned he'd "push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources." Today, part of that blueprint is set to become more clear, with an expected announcement by the president to stop all new coal-mining leases on public...

Coal Baron Convicted in Blast That Killed 29

'Landmark' conviction could send him to jail for one year

(Newser) - Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was convicted Thursday of a misdemeanor count connected to a deadly coal mine explosion and acquitted of more serious charges. A federal jury in West Virginia convicted Blankenship of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards. The misdemeanor charge carries up to one year...

Black Lung Rates Rise 900%: Report

Appalachian coal miners contracting disease with prevalence not seen since '70s

(Newser) - Just 15 years ago, scientists were confident that the advanced, incurable version of black lung disease had been all but wiped out. Now, coal miners in Appalachia are contracting the illness—also known as progressive massive fibrosis—at rates not seen since the 1970s, the Courier-Journal reports. A National Institute...

Tennessee Declares End to 1892 Coal Creek War

State no longer at war with miners

(Newser) - Some 121 years after the Coal Creek War broke out, Tennessee has officially declared an end to hostilities. A "peace treaty" to end the labor uprising was signed earlier this month at Fort Anderson, where Tennessee National Guardsmen once battled striking coal miners enraged by the use of convict...

Bad News for Miners: Black Lung Is Back
 Bad News for Miners: 
 Black Lung Is Back 
investigation
Jul 9, 2012 10:40 AM CDT

Bad News for Miners: Black Lung Is Back

Cases have doubled in a decade despite regulations

(Newser) - Black lung was thought to be on its way out following new mining regulations in 1969—but the disease is resurging and has some health experts using the word "epidemic," according to an NPR /Center for Public Integrity investigation. Its occurrence has doubled over the past 10 years,...

Mining Company: Those 2-Headed Fish No Big Deal

Images of two-headed trout tucked into appendix of safety study

(Newser) - If you reel in your fishing line in southern Idaho to find a two-headed trout staring back, it's ... no big deal? The New York Times explains: The JR Simplot Company wants the federal government to allow higher levels of the mining byproduct selenium to appear in local waterways. The...

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