The Cost of Respirable Coal Mine Dust: An Analysis Based on New Black Lung Claims

Abstract

Abstract The objectives of this article are (1) to provide for the first time a summation of the monetary costs of new compensation claims associated with levels of unmitigated respirable coal mine dust and the resultant lung disease known as black lung and (2) to compare these compensation costs to the cost of dust control technology research by the Bureau of Mines. This article presents an analysis of these expenditures and projects these costs over the period from 1991 to 2010, based on projected future new claims which are assumed to be approved for federal and state benefit payment. Since current and future dust control research efforts cannot change past claim histories, a valid comparison of future research spending with other incurred costs must examine only the cost of future new claims. The bias of old claim costs was eliminated in this analysis by examining only claims since 1980. The results estimate that for an expected 339 new approved claims annually from 1991 to 2010, the Federal Trust Fun...