Coal Firm Officers Plead Responsible After Hiding Black Lung Risks

A former supervisor on the Parkway coal mine in Western Kentucky pleaded responsible Tuesday to collaborating in a scheme to cover the specter of black lung illness from federal security officers.

Steve DeMoss, a former security director and foreman for Armstrong Coal, which owned and operated the Parkway mine, acknowledged in courtroom that he helped submit misleadingly low coal mud readings to mine regulators. Miners can develop black lung illness by respiratory an excessive amount of coal mud in a mine’s ambiance, resulting in a debilitating ailment that victims evaluate to the feeling of drowning.

The cost towards DeMoss is a part of a case that federal prosecutors have introduced towards 9 former Armstrong officers following a 2014 HuffPost investigation detailing fraud on the firm.

DeMoss faces as much as a yr in jail and a wonderful of as much as $100,000 for his function within the scheme. A lawyer for DeMoss declined to remark.

Armstrong miners informed HuffPost that they had been directed to “cheat” on the coal mud readings submitted to the Mine Security and Well being Administration, by stowing their mud screens in cleaner areas of the mine. Mines displaying excessive ranges of coal mud may be shut down by regulators till they arrive into compliance.

Miners say dust-sampling fraud is widespread within the coal business, however prosecutions for the crime seem like comparatively uncommon for its prevalence. When officers introduced the primary indictment within the case in 2019, U.S. Lawyer Russell Coleman mentioned they had been attempting to “maintain accountable those that made calculated enterprise selections that positioned our miners at grave danger.”

Appalachia has seen a resurgence of black lung illness in recent times, a improvement specialists attribute to poor regulation and prevention efforts, together with mud sampling fraud.

DeMoss is the third Armstrong official to plead responsible within the case to this point. Former mine foremen Ron Ivy and Billy Hearld accepted plea offers in Might 2019 and September 2020, respectively. A trial date has not but been set for the others who’ve been charged.

The case consists of an indictment towards Glendal “Buddy” Hardison, who managed all of the western Kentucky mines for Armstrong Coal and was the highest-ranking official charged. Armstrong went bankrupt and its belongings had been acquired in 2018 by then-Murray Power, now generally known as American Consolidated Pure Sources.

In 2014, Armstrong miner and whistleblower Justin Greenwell informed HuffPost that sending fraudulent mud readings to MSHA was widespread observe on the firm’s Parkway mine. Greenwell, simply 29 on the time, mentioned he was already experiencing shortness of breath from his time working there.

“It’s been occurring since I began there,” he mentioned of the fraud. “All these guys in administration, they comprehend it’s incorrect. However they don’t care about our well being.”

One other miner, Mike “Flip” Wilson, had already developed black lung illness by then. He additionally turned a whistleblower and outspoken critic of the fraud, telling HuffPost in 2014 that “there’s been dishonest ever since I’ve been there.”