GAO: Lack of Supervision Endangers Trust Fund for Coal Miners With Black Lung Disease

The chairwoman of a congressional subcommittee said coal mine operators are taking advantage of a system that provides benefits to those who develop black lung disease, during a hearing to discuss a Government Accountability Office report finding $865 million in liabilities had been shifted to U.S. taxpayers. “What we are seeing here is nothing less than a gaming of the system,” said Rep. Alma Adams, D-North Carolina and chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and Labor’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. “The winners are the coal operators and their Wa...