Clinic aims to shed light on black lung, get coal miners help

Taking the spirometry test that helps detect black lung disease is enough to make even a healthy person light-headed.

In Terry McCorkle's case, it was enough to show staff members of the nonprofit Lungs at Work that she probably qualifies for federal black lung benefits.

McCorkle, looking winded and a little defeated, skipped the six-minute walk test at a black lung clinic held this week at American Legion Post 51, Uniontown, and was sent home with a prescription for an X-ray.

“I have breathing problems and I have arthritis and I have lung problems. That's the reason why I've come — to see if I qualify for benefits,” said McCorkle, 68, of McClellandtown, Fayette County.

McCorkle worked for U.S. Steel at the Maple Creek Mine in Bentleyville, Washington County, for 31 years — as a general laborer, shuttle car operator and, finally, belt shoveler.

“I was completely underground for 31 years,” she said.

Retired now for 12 years, she has been plagued by medical problems that she attributes to her years in the coal mining industry. Not all of those problems, including pneumonia and bronchitis, have manifested at the same time. But they send her to the hospital two or three times a year, she said.

“I tried three times to get a disability check for my breathing, and they said at the time I wasn't sick enough,” she said.

McCorkle hopes her visit to Wednesday's black lung clinic will do the trick.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis, commonly called black lung disease or black lung, is caused by long exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. Its effect is similar to the long-term effects of tobacco smoking.

Uptick in cases

Lungs at Work, a nonprofit organization founded in 2002 in McMurray, Washington County, began holding traveling clinics last August. A March clinic in Cowansville, Armstrong County, attracted 22 miners.

Lungs at Work started the clinics as a way to reach more miners in its 15-county territory and because the incidence of black lung is on the rise, said Laurie Roberts, respiratory therapist.

“We're actually seeing an uptick in black lung and cases of progressive massive fibrosis ( advanced stage black lung ),” Roberts said.

The nonprofit also is seeing more cases involving younger miners and involving a more rapid progression of the disease, said Lynda Glagola, Lungs at Work executive director.

From 2007-14, Lungs at Work documented eight progressive massive fibrosis cases — about one a year. The clinic saw seven in 2015, five in 2016 and 13 in 2017. So far this year, there have been five confirmed cases, Glagola said.

Elsewhere, the numbers are greater.

“In states like Kentucky and Virginia, it's just startling — it's in the hundreds,” she said. “Obviously, we're seeing more (cases) than historically we've seen.”

Glagola surmised that miners are working more hours, thus giving their lungs less time to recover, and are being exposed to more freshly fractured silica due to the mining of smaller coal seams.

“I know that we're seeing younger and younger miners that have more devastating forms of the disease. We've had a significant increase in the number of miners who have applied for black lung benefits and have been able to get it,” said Jill Armentrout, Lungs at Work outreach coordinator.

‘Wanted to make sure'

On Wednesday, 22 miners, including Harry Smith, 73, of Rices Landing, Greene County, signed up for the Uniontown clinic.

“I just wanted to make sure I don't have black lung, that's all,” Smith said.

Now retired, Smith worked at the Emerald Mine in Greene County for 32½ years, mostly above ground.

“They cleaned coal there, so you'd see a lot of float dust,” he said.

Although his only symptom is slight shortness of breath, Smith is concerned that prolonged exposure to that dust could lead to black lung. Pneumoconiosis often is not detected until after miners retire, according to Lungs at Work.

The latent and progressive disease is characterized by a discoloration of the lungs and difficulty breathing due to the gradual buildup of coal dust in the lungs, according to Lungs at Work.

Those at Wednesday's clinic were given a spirometry test for shortness of breath, a six-minute walk test for fatigue and a prescription for an X-ray. All three are used to determine the presence of black lung and determine a course of treatment, Glagola said.

The presence of black lung may qualify the person for federal black lung benefits through the U.S. Labor Department's Division of Coal Mine Workers' Compensation, Roberts said.

Lungs at Work helps miners navigate the federal black lung program and apply for disability benefits through the Black Lung Benefits Act. A couple can receive up to $990 a month through the program, while an individual can receive $660, Roberts said.

Pennsylvania leads the country in the number of black lung claims filed from 1973 to 2017, and is third — after West Virginia and Kentucky — in disbursements paid, according to the Labor Department.

In March, local programs such as Lungs at Work received a 40 percent increase in funding from the budget approved by Congress.

Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shuba_trib.