A Project Built in Blood

The Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster is often called America’s worst industrial disaster, and for good reason. In the early 1930s, the company now known as Union Carbide wanted to harness the New River for electricity, so they sent thousands of men to drill a three mile tunnel through Golly Mountain. The catch was that they were drilling through pure sandstone, which is packed with deadly silica. While the engineers knew the risks of silica dust, they sent the workers in anyway. About 75 percent of these workers were African Americans recruited from across the South, and they were essentially sent into a death trap. Within a few years, nearly 500 of those men had died from acute silicosis, though the true number might be even higher.

“Nearly 5,000 people, 75 percent African Americans, were sent onto that project in 1930, 1931 to drill through pure sandstone. It was extremely dangerous and they knew at the time silica was dangerous for you, but what they didn’t realize is that putting people through that much pure sandstone for two years at a stretch would just kill them.”

The Silent Disaster Happening Now

You might think we learned our lesson after Hawks Nest, but the scary truth is that a similar tragedy is happening in West Virginia right now. Because the thickest coal seams are mostly gone, modern miners have to cut through feet of sandstone rock just to reach a few inches of coal. This process creates massive amounts of the same silica dust that killed the men at Hawks Nest. We are seeing miners as young as 32 years old with lungs that have literally turned to ash. It is a slow motion version of the same disaster, yet enforceable federal limits for this specific dust have been delayed and debated for decades.

“We are knowingly sending coal miners into conditions that have been absolutely killing them for 100 years. We know better, we have a rule on the books in place that could be saving lives, and we’re just choosing not to protect our people.”

Taking the Power Back

There is a silver lining in this heavy history: the power of the people. Over the years, West Virginia miners have walked out and picketed to force the government to implement better safety protections. Today, miners have a powerful tool called “Part 90” rights. This federal law allows any miner who shows even the earliest signs of black lung to demand a transfer to a less dusty area of the mine. The best part is that the company is required to let them keep the same job, the same shift, and the same pay. When workers stand up and demand their rights, they can actually save their own lives and the lives of their friends.

“The minute you have your first stage one positive X-ray you have the right to say I am no longer working around dust underground in the mines. The federal law says that these miners when they transfer are entitled to stay at the same job, same shift, and same pay. It’s a very powerful right.”

Want the full story on this “creepy” history and the legal battle to protect our workers? You won’t want to miss the deep dive in the original video!