Another WV miner joins suit against federal government over shutdown of miners’ health program

by Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
July 15, 2025

Another miner has been added as a plaintiff in a class action suit pending against the federal Department of Health and Human Services over its prior shutdown of an agency crucial to helping coal miners protect themselves against dangerous black lung disease.

Matthew Ward, a coal miner since 1993 who lives in Mingo County, will represent the class in the suit alongside Harry Wiley, the case’s lead plaintiff, per court documents filed last week.

The case was initially filed on behalf of Wiley and coal miners in similar positions who, because of the federal government’s shutdown of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in April, had to go without services that were mandated to be offered through congressional action.

The shutdown saw every worker from the agency’s Respiratory Health Division and the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program let go. NIOSH, through those programs, is the only entity capable of certifying X-ray results showing that an active miner has been diagnosed with black lung disease. Those certified X-ray results are the only way for miners with black lung to request a Part 90 transfer, which allows them to move to a less dusty part of a mine without negative consequences like a cut in hours, pay or retribution from mine operators.

The Part 90 program was created through Congress in amendments to the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act of 1969. The program effectively ended in April without an act of Congress through cuts by the newly created federal Department of Government Efficiency when all workers within the division were put on administrative leave pending permanent firings.

A hearing for the case was held in May. Attorneys for the coal miners argued that the nature in which the NIOSH cuts occurred and the consequences of those cuts — leaving coal miners without services the government is congressionally obligated to provide — was illegal. Attorneys for the federal government argued the cuts were “temporary,” but offered no evidence of when the services would return or in what form.

In response to those arguments, federal U.S. District Judge Irene Berger issued a preliminary injunction on May 13 ordering a “full restoration” of services at the Respiratory Health Division and the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.

Despite two months passing since that order, work at the surveillance program has still slowed and several of the functions it’s responsible for providing — including free black lung screenings for active miners through a mobile clinic — have yet to resume, per West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Attorneys in last week’s filing argued that Ward’s experiences were similar to those of Wiley, the case’s lead plaintiff, and as such were appropriate to add in the suit as part of an amended complaint. Ward also testified at May’s hearing but was not included as a potential named plaintiff on the case until last week.

According to filings, Ward was diagnosed with complicated black lung disease in March 2025 at the New River Clinic, which is a partner clinic for the surveillance program. While he’s out of work temporarily due to injury, he would like to return to work in a less dusty part of the coal mine to not exacerbate his progressing black lung disease.

To do such, Ward filed in April 2025 to request a Part 90 transfer. According to the filings, he has yet to hear back from DHHS regarding his application or the status of his request.

Black lung disease has no cure. The best intervention, according to experts, is to limit exposure to dangerous silica dust that is becoming more common in mines as miners are forced to dig through more silica-rich sandstone to reach the little coal that remains in existing seams.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 20% of Central Appalachian coal miners are suffering from black lung — the highest rate detected in more than 25 years. 

One in 20 of the region’s coal miners are living with the most severe form of the condition.

The resurgence of black lung is hitting coal miners at younger ages than ever before due to the increased exposure to silica dust.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

SUPPORT

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.