Destructive Frack Sand Mining in WI, MN, IL, etc.
From an Issue by Patricia Popple, Editor, Frac Sand Sentinel, December 1, 2021
First hand experience with silicosis and respirable crystalline silica dust is not too common of an event with lawmakers, politicians and governmental officials and others when it comes to issuing permits and sanctioning industries wishing to blast out and mine silica. A Michigan friend sent this video of Michigan Senator Tom Ward as he tells his personal story on YouTubeabout his experiences with silica and dust dangers.
He feels the need for greater oversight and avoiding practices that create the harms done by some industries which are polluting the air we breathe. He feels additional health and safety measures in the industry with regulatory standards would not only improve the health of workers but also that of people living near silica dust producing industries.
The old film on silicosis entitled “Stop Silicosis” produced by the federal government and the work of many researchers including Frances Perkins, Secretary of the Department of Labor is still available for viewing. It is well worth taking the time to see this film produced in 1938 as 83 years have passed since silicosis has been identified and many states including Wisconsin have not studied nor listed silica dust as a carcinogen. Neither have they introduced standards for respirable crystalline silica dust. While appeals from citizens in Northwest Wisconsin were made at the onset of silica mining in Wisconsin, the rationale listed by the Department of Natural Resources indicated that the priority for study of this chemical was lowest on the list of concerns and that it would be too expensive to do.
Take a look at the film on YouTube. I think you will enjoy seeing this old film but also determining how relevant it is to practices still being used today…83 years later!
Stop Silicosis (US DOL 1938) : US Dept. of Labor 1938 : Free Streaming : Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/StopSilicosis
In 1938, the US Department of Labor released this film aimed at preventing the occupational disease of silicosis. It was produced in response to the national outcry over the death of more than 500 workers at Union Carbide’s Hawks Nest Tunnel project near Gauley Bridge West Virginia in the early 1930s. That overexposure to silica dust caused this deadly disease had been known for more than 100 years, but many employers ignored workplace dust control methods. Sadly, almost 70 years later, hundreds of workers each year still develop this preventable lung disease. The current OSHA exposure limit for silica dust is based on science from the mid 1960s. Most of the information and prevention measures in this film are still relevant today.
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