CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A half-century ago, the nation's top health experts urged the federal agency in charge of mine safety to adopt strict rules protecting miners from poisonous rock dust.
Retired coal miner James Bounds, who has pneumoconiosis, more commonly known as “black lung,a’ speaks July 13 at his home in Oak Hill, W.Va. Bounds said nothing can be done to reverse the debilitating illness he was diagnosed with at 37 in 1984. But he doesn’t want others to suffer the same fate.
James Bounds, a retired coal miner from Oak Hill, W.Va., is hoping a new rule will help others avoid suffering from so-called “Black Lung.” “It’s not going to help me — I’m through mining,” said Bounds, 75, who now uses supplemental oxygen to breathe. “But we don’t want these young kids breathing like we do."
Retired coal miner James Bounds, who has pneumoconiosis, more commonly known as “black lung,a’ speaks July 13 at his home in Oak Hill, W.Va. Bounds said nothing can be done to reverse the debilitating illness he was diagnosed with at 37 in 1984. But he doesn’t want others to suffer the same fate.
James Bounds, a retired coal miner from Oak Hill, W.Va., is hoping a new rule will help others avoid suffering from so-called “Black Lung.” “It’s not going to help me — I’m through mining,” said Bounds, 75, who now uses supplemental oxygen to breathe. “But we don’t want these young kids breathing like we do."
