There are two main NIOSH functions at the South Park campus…. One is the mining safety research division, which works on ways to prevent any type of hazard, injury or fatality at mining sites. The other is the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which certifies respirators ranging from N95 masks to full-face coverings worn by firefighters.
Both have been decimated by the cuts, said Brendan Demich, a general engineer in the mining division.
“A large number of the folks in Morgantown is also being [cut],” he said.
In addition to Pittsburgh, NIOSH has research centers in Morgantown, W.Va.; Cincinnati; Denver; Anchorage, Alaska; Spokane, Wash.; and Atlanta.
Mr. Demich, who recently took on the role of chief steward at [American Federation of Government Employees Local 1916] when the previous steward took the buyout offered in Elon Musk’s “Fork in the Road” email, said workers and supervisors were following the same news stories as the public to glean their fate.
HHS, now headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced that it would create the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), and will consolidate multiple agencies under that umbrella, including NIOSH.
The Bruceton Research Center [in South Park, PA] traces its storied history to 1910, after a series of horrific mine explosions and enactment of mine safety legislation that created the U.S. Bureau of Mines. In 1911, the Bureau of Mines leased 38 acres in Bruceton, where an experimental mine was constructed, which is still used for testing today.
That mine requires daily attention, Mr. Demich said, to ensure it’s being properly ventilated and that water is pumped out to prevent flooding.
Mr. Demich said his plan was to do everything in his power to bring attention to these cuts. Around 5 p.m., he walked out of his office and made his way to the entrance to Bruceton Research Center with a dozen other employees. They held signs that read “Defend NIOSH” and “Work should not feel like war.”
Lambert here: Oh?
Lambert here: Ironically, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, its knuckle-dragging management having lost a strike, has now shut down.
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