The Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency laid off 25 federal workers on April 1 who were responsible for the one program trusted by and relied upon by America‘s coal miners.
The Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP) has provided free health care for all coal miners since 1969. Established by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act and run by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program’s goal was to detect lung disease in coal miners.
Approximately 50,000 American coal miners are now without that safety net of care and prevention despite President Donald Trump‘s executive order and promises to revive the coal industry in the United States.
Sam Petsonk‘s law practice in Oak Hill, West Virginia, as reported by NPR, represents coal miners. Petsonk, who grew up in West Virginia‘s coal mining communities, has filed a class action lawsuit against Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. According to Petsonk, routine lung scans are an essential part of coal miners’ lives, for which they are entitled by American law.
“It’s a bedrock institution for the medical profession that has been obliterated. It’s just unacceptable,” Petsonk said.
The CWHSP was founded after a mining explosion in Farmington, West Virginia killed 78 coal miners in 1968.
Scott Laney, who led research for the program in Morgantown, West Virginia, was also laid off April 1 from what he called “the nation’s doctor for coal miners.” With no program, Laney told NPR that the database of X-rays, medical records and mobile screening vans are abandoned.
According to Laney, the program reduced Black Lung Disease from affecting nearly 40 percent of longtime coal miners to as low as 2 percent in 2000. Lung disease concerns have increased in recent years because coal is more and more now coming from mines containing sandstone which creates dust that is 20 times more damaging to lungs than just coal. More coal miners are getting sicker younger than previous generations.
“It’s going to have impacts on my neighbors; it’s going to be killing young men. And that story will go untold,” Laney said.
Dr. Drew Harris, a pulmonologist and director of the Black Lung Program at Stone Mountain Health, said the program is trusted and relied on by communities in Virginia where it is the only such free program.
“In Central Appalachia, it’s a big deal. These are towns that basically were built around coal mining, and coal miners are like the heart and soul of this community and economic livelihood for generations,” Harris said. Harris has treated patients who needed double lung transplants by age 40 because of the sand dust in coal mines. Black Lung Disease is not gone.
“If that goes away, then, you know, people won’t know that they have Black Lung at an earlier age and more people are going to end up with severe disease because they didn’t diagnose it earlier,” Harris said.
Last week, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Bernie Sanders of Vermont wrote a letter to Kennedy to push back on his decision to gut the NIOSH and fire nearly 900 employees. Recent reporting has indicated that the firings include all employees tasked with protecting the health and safety of coal miners.
“According to reports, HHS is laying off approximately 873 employees, or two-thirds, of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to a notification provided to AFGE Local 1969, whose federal employee members are being impacted, all employees working on mining safety and health in NIOSH’s Spokane, Wash. and Pittsburgh, Penn. offices are being let go. The NIOSH Pittsburgh Mining Research Division focuses on coal miner safety, and the Spokane Mining Research Division specializes in hard rock mining, and are the two main research hubs for NIOSH’s Mining Research Program. Additionally, reports indicate more than 185 NIOSH employees are being laid off from its Morgantown, West Virginia office, who also work to protect miner health, among other occupational safety and health activities,” the senators wrote.
The senators highlighted the immediate impacts and explained that mining communities are already left without key health services.
“We also have heard from those who work directly with our miner constituents in these communities that the Enhanced Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program is also being decimated. This program provides direct screening services via a mobile medical unit to miners at no cost. NIOSH also supports clinic sites where screening is done, so miners can understand if they are developing black lung or another condition and be as healthy as possible for themselves and their families,” the lawmakers wrote.
The senators demanded answers from Kennedy and questioned how crucial services will continue with a significantly reduced workforce. The senators requested a written response to the following:
1.How many HHS employees who work in offices that work on mining health and safety have been fired, put on administrative leave, accepted the deferred resignation program offer, or accepted the VERA/VSIP offer since January 20, 2025? Provide a complete breakdown by agency and position. For each category of employee at each agency, provide information on GS level and veteran status, and clearly state the justification for termination. Include employees who have since been reinstated or placed on administrative leave, noting that change in status. Please provide the latest data available.
2.How many HHS employees remain who work on mining health and safety? Please provide a complete breakdown by agency and position.
3.How many additional employees who work in offices that work on mining health and safety do you intend to fire following the announcement made on March 27, 2025?
4.Provide all analyses conducted prior to the reorganization and firings of HHS employees who work in offices that focus on mining safety and health to determine the immediate and long-term impact these firings will have on programs and activities that those employees are tasked with administering. In particular, provide all analyses relating to 1) ensuring statutory obligations will be met, and 2) the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
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Rebecca Barnabi
