WASHINGTON — Bill Hatfield of Pike County spent 22 years underground, mining in Kentucky.

Hatfield, now 68, was 36 when he was diagnosed with black lung disease, a condition that has only worsened decades after he left the mines, he said.

“Once a year now they do a CT scan on my lungs,” Hatfield said. “The last two CT scans, they have progressively got worse, and that’s what happens with silica over time. It doesn’t get better; it only gets worse.”

Hatfield and dozens of others who have suffered because their time in the mines rallied Tuesday outside the Labor Department.

They want to see the Trump administration enforce a Mine Safety and Health Administration rule that was finalized under the Biden administration to reduce miners’ exposure to silica dust, which can cause black lun

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