Kentucky law firm that handles black-lung, environmental cases faces flood-recovery costs
A non-profit law firm whose work includes representing coal miners seeking benefits for black lung disease is working to recover after being damaged in the record flooding in Eastern Kentucky last month.
Muddy water inundated the office of the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center in downtown Whitesburg, where the North Fork of the Kentucky River hit the highest level on record on July 28.
The flooding destroyed computers and furniture, damaged the downstairs area and washed away part of the parking lot and river bank at the rear of the center’s 1932 building.
“The devastation is just so extreme,” said Wes Addington, director of the law center.
The flooding also hit staff members. Two of three attorneys who handle black-lung cases at the center have had to deal with significant flood damage to homes.
Staffers also have been helping clients with flood damage.
Attorneys with the center sought continuances in some cases as they dealt with the disaster, but Addington said he doesn’t think anyone’s legal case will suffer as a result of the disaster.
The center moved operations to a small rented house so it can continue serving clients. But the center faces significant costs to clean and repair its main office.
The basement has been mucked out and treated for mold, and a contractor was scheduled to finish Monday with five days of drying the interior of the office.
However, the building needs electrical work and the downstairs will have to be rebuilt. Experts will also have to assess the structural integrity of the building and the need to shore up the embankment outside to protect the office from future high water.
Addington said the recovery work so far has cost about $20,000. The center gets most of its budget from grants and donations, so it will need more to recover from the flood, Addington said.
The center provides free legal services to miners with black lung, and their widows.
Black lung is an incurable disease caused by breathing coal and rock dust produced during mining. It impairs a person’s ability to breathe and leads to premature death.
Federal rules drove down the prevalence of the disease from 1969 to the late 1990s, but researchers began seeing a rebound in black lung in the early 2000s in central Appalachia, including Eastern Kentucky.
Researchers have pointed to a number of possible causes, including miners working longer shifts, creating longer exposure to dust; more mining of thinner coal seams, which requires cutting through more rock and so churns out more silica; and cheating by coal companies.
The Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center also pursues policies and lawsuits in other areas, among them mine safety and health, environmental protection, on-going costs from extractive industries such as coal mining, landowners’ rights, toxic waste disposal, safe drinking water and sustainable energy.
In recent years the work has included advocating for money to reclaim abandoned surface mines and develop the economy; helping residents of Martin County seeking improvements in the beleaguered local water system; and working to hold coal companies to account for environmental violations.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 8:24 AM.
