Black lung disease remains a threat, but federal officials delay effort to address it

Black lung disease remains a threat, but federal officials delay effort to address it

By Taylor Sisk, KFF Health News OAK HILL, W.Va. — Each day at New River Health in Oak Hill, Lisa Emery finds disheartening signs of what she describes as a slow-motion repeat of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster. Emery is director of New River’s Breathing Center and chair of the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics. The disaster she’s reminded of started in 1930, when construction began on a 3-mile tunnel through Gauley …