MineSafetyWatch

Change of Address

2009-08-03T12:07:00.003-04:00

MineSafetyWatch is moving over to WordPress, at least for a while. Changes made this site a little harder for me to use. The new location is http://MineSafetyWatch.wordpress.com.

I'll see how it goes.

Inspector General Issues Crandall Canyon Report

2008-03-31T16:18:00.004-04:00

The Department of Labor Inspector General has just issued its report on MSHA's role before and during the Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy last August.

According to their summary:

MSHA was negligent in carrying out its responsibilities to protect the safety of miners. Specifically, MSHA could not show that it made the right decision in approving the Crandall Canyon Mine roof control plan or that the process was free from undue influence by the mine operator...Further, MSHA did not ensure that subsequent inspections assessed compliance with, and the effectiveness of, approved plans...

In addition, during the rescue attempt:

MSHA...lacked guidance on appropriate non-rescue activities.

The IG says it made nine recomendations.

The summary seems delicately worded in some ways. "Was negligent" -- that's strong indeed. A statement like that seems as if it might subject the government to a lawsuit, unless MSHA is shielded by the principle of Sovereign Immunity, which I would guess is probalby the case in this instance. As I understand it, if they were just doing their job, no matter how badly, a lawsuit is unlikely to have any traction.

On the other hand, the summary continues mildly: the agency "could not show" that it handled plan approval properly. No clear, positive statement that the approval was definitely wrong.

The whole document, summary and MSHA response are posted here.

U.S. House Education and Labor Committee chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) immediately issued a statement urging firther action of the S-Miner Act.

The Inspector General’s report highlights the fact that miners performing retreat mining in this country remain at serious risk because of MSHA’s deeply flawed process for reviewing and approving retreat mining plans. In January, the House of Representatives passed legislation to require that MSHA strengthen its procedures for reviewing and approving retreat mining plans. The legislation also requires MSHA to observe retreat mining operations once they are in place to ensure they are being performed in accordance with the plans and that miners are properly trained. The Inspector General’s report shows why this legislation is so urgently needed, and I strongly urge the Senate to pass it.

Stickler's Arithmetic

2008-03-31T13:01:00.010-04:00

MSHA has come in for a mention in a Federal Times article, "Safety agencies overwhelmed by surging inspection workload." What's new in the article: some of the regulated are now asking for more regulation. But as with the New York Times article discussed yesterday, the mine safety information is dated:

And many of the administration’s picks of leaders to run safety agencies have been executives from affected industries...

One example is the administration’s most recent pick to run the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration: Richard Stickler, a former coal company executive. His nomination was opposed by many members of Congress, who criticized Stickler’s ties to the industry and the poor safety record at the mines he managed. Many of those mines had accident rates above the national average....

As everyone in mining knows, Richard Stickler is not a recent nominee.

Stickler was nominated to head MSHA more than 2 1/2 years ago. He has actually been in charge at MSHA for most that time, first quietly as a "special assistant" ensconced in Labor Department headquarters, while his nomination was pending.

Starting in October 2006 -- after the Senate declined to confirm him -- he was formally given the job of MSHA Assistant Secretary under a recess appointment. That appointment was good only until December 31, 2007. However, Stickler, now using the title "Acting Assistant Secretary," continues in place.

Stickler's track record at MSHA is therefore more relevant than his industry experience. In fairness, it is very much mixed.

Stickler got his recess appointment several months after a trio of disasters rocked MSHA in early 2006: the Sago mine explosion, which killed 13, the Kentucky Darby mine explosion, which killed five, and the Aracoma Alma fire, in which two died. By all accounts, he earned the respect of many as he guided the agency through the massive investigations, internal reviews, and many changes and initiatives made necessary by the MINER Act, which Congress passed in response to those accidents. Others, including some members of Congress, have called the progress too slow.

On Stickler's watch, last August, came the Crandall Canyon outburst in Utah, in which nine were killed in two separate incidents, three of them during the attempted rescue. MSHA lost one of its own in the botched rescue attempt, something that had not happened in nearly 30 years.

Routine administration of some MSHA programs also began to look tattered. The inspection completion rate dropped to disturbing lows. Civil penalties fell through large cracks in the processing system, allowing some violators to get away scot-free. More inspectors were hired, but too late for their training to be complete in time to fill gaps as they arose in the MSHA workforce.

A recent briefing by Stickler on the proposed MSHA budget for 2009 was also mixed -- a strong enforcement message came along with with some sheer flim-flam in the math department.

Asked how he would rspond to mine operators who complained that the effort needed to contest new, higher MSHA penalties would draw their limited resources away from accident prevention, Stickler responded:

... Put the money in preventing the violations in the first place....All these violations can be prevented, and most of it is a matter of resources. It costs money. And you can wait until MSHA comes and wrotes a violation because you have combustible materials on a conveyor belt, then you clean it up and pay, I think our average fine last year was about $700 a fine, or you can go out and hire enough peple to keep the combustible materials cleaned up. You put on better belt wipers. Keep the belt aligned so it doesn't spill.

Fair enough. But on the same occasion, Stickler claimed that a proposed budget cut for MSHA was actually an increase, in a piece of -- I'm sorry, but that's how it was -- double talk fit to prove that 2 + 2 = 5.

The Labor Department's own budget book showed that the Administration is asking for a cut of $1.8 million for the agency, compared with actual apropriations for fiscal 2008. Asked about this at the news conference, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao professed ignorance of any MSHA cut, and deferred to Stickler, who stated that the Department's own figures

may be confused.

Stickler went on to say that the $1.8 million proposed cut is actually a $18.6 million proposed increase. How can that be? Easy, just discount $20 million in "non-reoccurring or one-time expenditures" from the current year.

That even sounds vaguely plausible unless you look at what Stickler listed as "non-reoccurring" expenses": Overtime so that inspectors can get to all the mines as required by law while the agency is shorthanded. Improvements at the National Mine Academy facility. Equipment purchases.

And what were the alleged "program increases" for 2009? New inspectors for metal and nonmetal mines. More improvements at the National Mine Academy. Inflation.

Hello? Increases for inflation aren't really program increases. You are not getting any more for your money.

Facility upgrades and equipment purchases go on all the time, in some years more than others. To get inspectors to all the mines as required, you can pay overtime, you can hire more inspectors, you make whatever adjustments are necessary from year to year. None of these is an extraordinary one-time expenditure; they are all mangement decisions of the type that all MSHA managers have always had to make under whatever budget.

What's more, the Department's budget booklet showed a whopping proposed cut of $9.7 million for coal mine safety and health -- along with lesser cuts in standards development, penalty assessments, training and engineering support, and "program administration."

Real proposed increases would go only to metal and nonmetal mine safety and health ($11 million there) and MSHA data management. These increases surely are needed. But the concept of making those limited increases at the expense of other MSHA activities surely deserves the closest of scrutiny.

The attempt to bill a $1.8 million cut as an $18.6 million "increase" was pure P.R.

The MSHA press release, if you read it carefully, clarifies the real point: The current MSHA request is actually $18.6 million increase (rounded up to $19 million) over what the White House requested last year. Isn't that an interesting coincidence?

Behind (At) The (New York) Times?

2008-03-30T09:59:00.010-04:00

It was a surprise to see an obscure outfit like the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission make the editorial page of today's New York Times. And I'm even more surprised to see that the Gray Lady's opinion elves sees to have skimped on the fact-checking.

At this point, according to a review by Politico.com, the election commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board and the National Labor Relations Board do not have enough members to do their jobs...

The Times editorial writer apparently relied on a month-old story from the Politico website:

Politics freezes regulatory boards
By: Ryan Grim
Feb 28, 2008 05:12 AM EST

The system of federal regulation first launched in 1883 with the Interstate Commerce Commission has become a casualty of the Pennsylvania Avenue battle over nominations....

...The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission’s two remaining members leave it one short of a quorum. Close to 200 nominees for federal appointments stand unconfirmed....

The federal government is running on fumes, and roadside signs suggest the next gas station won’t come until January 2009.....

But a lot can happen in a month.

On March 14 the Senate acted on a batch of nominations including two nominations for the Federal Mine Safety and Health Commission, providing a quorum.

Here's Harry Reid's statement:

I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement to confirm nominees early this morning. Democrats were confirmed to important posts such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, and AMTRAK, among others....

Executive Nominations Confirmed by the Senate: Thursday, March 13, 2008

REPUBLICANS
...Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Michael F. Duffy, to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission through August 30, 2012...

DEMOCRATS
...Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Robert F. Cohen, to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission through August 30, 2012...

FYI, here's some links to more about Cohen and Duffy. The Senate did not take any action on a third nomination for the Commission, that of Arlene Holen.

It's true that as of this morning, the Review Commission's website has not been updated and still lists only the names of Comissioners Michael G. Young and Mary Lu Jordan.

So it's not clear if Duffy and Cohen have actually been sworn in. Still, it seems odd that a newpaper like the Times would run an editorial based on month-old facts without apparent awareness of a significant update.

The context of the Times editorial takes us far afield from mine safety:

Unhappily for the country, we have learned that Mr. Bush has no idea when standing on principle becomes blind stubbornness and then destructive obsession. So it goes with his choice to run the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Steven Bradbury.

In a lower job in that office, Mr. Bradbury signed off on two secret legal memos authorizing torture in American detention camps. The first approved waterboarding, among other things. When Congress outlawed waterboarding, the other memo assured Mr. Bush that he could ignore the law.

Mr. Bradbury is widely viewed on both sides of the aisle as such a toxic choice that he will never be confirmed. The Senate has already refused to do so twice. Still, Mr. Bush clings to this lost cause, snarling the confirmation process for hundreds of nominees and crippling parts of the federal regulatory apparatus....

...When Mr. Bush refused to withdraw the Bradbury nomination, the Senate’s Democratic leaders decided to stop processing other controversial nominations...

Some will note that Mr. Bush has been just as stubborn in sticking to Richard E. Stickler for chief of MSHA as he has been in sticking to Mr. Bradbury for OLC.

When the Senate refused to confirm Stickler, the White House gave him a recess appointment, which ended last December. After that the Senate still would not confirm Stickler, but he has continued to head MSHA on an "acting" basis.

Meanwhile, a different story about Mine Safety and Health Review Commission resources may remain to be told.

The (theoretically) five presidentially-appointed Commissioners serve as an appellate board, which only decides a selection of cases that are appealed after initial decisions by the Commision's administrative law judges. The ALJ's have the bulk of the work.

Appeals filed with the Office of ALJ's have multiplied since MSHA hiked penalties last year in line with the new MINER Act. (For instance, 714 contests were filed in January 2008 compared with 210 in January 2007.)

Yet dollar appropriations for the Commission have not risen significantly, nor has the number of ALJ's increased much. And the President's latest budget proposal for the Commission calls for a dollar boost of less than 10% next year. (Source: Mine Safety and Health News, a subscription-only publication -- for which I also write.)

It's reasonable to wonder how the Commission will cope with its new workload.

Closure Announced of Struggling Tower Mine

2008-03-29T13:41:00.004-04:00

UtahAmerican Energy has announced closure of its Tower Mine in Carbon County, Utah, which recently got slapped with fines of more than $420,000 for two "flagrant" violations of 30 CFR 75.400, the standard that prohibits accumulations of combustible materials.

The mine, like the Crandall Canyon Mine where nine died in two outbursts this summer, is owned Robert E. Murray. Like all other deep coal mines in the West, it has faced intense scrutiny since the disaster.

The Salt Lake Tribune:

The company said it had to close the Tower mine because of "recently encountered, unexpected and unusual stress conditions"...

P. Bruce Hill, UtahAmerican's president and chief executive officer, said the safety of the mine's employees was at stake, given unforeseen geological and mining conditions...

"Safety is our only initial concern, and we do not believe that the Tower Mine can be operated at this time," Hill said, adding that "unforeseen changes in requirements by the [federal] Mine Safety and Health Administration also have contributed to the forced closure of the mine."

But both Federal agencies involved professed ignorance:

MSHA's Amy Louviere said in an e-mail that "we cannot speculate as to what 'unforeseen changes' UtahAmerican references in its press release."

James Kohler, chief of the solid minerals branch for the Utah Bureau of Land Management, said the company has yet to submit an application to BLM to close the mine, as it is required to do.

AP had a bit more in the way of details:

The company wanted to relocate a longwall mining machine inside Tower but found the conditions unsafe....

The Murray Energy Corp. subsidiary closed the mine for several weeks last summer as engineers tested its ability to withstand seismic shocks that plagued the company's Crandall Canyon mine near Huntington, Utah, where nine people died in two cave-ins.

The Tower mine, seven miles north of Price, Utah, reopened in late January.

The company's statement didn't specify whether the Tower mine, previously known as the Aberdeen mine, was being permanently shut down. It was also unclear how many people work at the mine

Meanwhile, the Tribune reported,

Most of the employees will be transferred to UtahAmerican's nearby West Ridge Mine, which is being expanded, [Hill] said.

If you're having some trouble finding UtahAmerican's Tower Mine in the MSHA database, that's because it's still registered with MSHA as Andalex Resources, Aberdeen Mine, MSHA ID 4202028. The two "flagrant" penalties totaling $420,300, for violations dated 10/26/06 and 6/31/07 will be found in the MSHA data for the Aberdeen Mine.

Murray Energy, parent of UtahAmerican, acquired Andalex in August 2006.

The database shows that the mine had 207 employees in the second quarter of 2007, of whom 164 worked underground, producing 494,740 tons. In third quarter, employment rose to 251, of whom 185 worked underground, but production came to only 128,114 tons. During the idle 4th quarter, only 61 employees were reported, 37 of them working underground.

The Tower (or Aberdeen) mine was the site of a fatal outburst in January 2006 (before the Murray takeover).

Last year the mine reported 13 lost-worktime injuries for a rate of 9.04 per 200,000 employee-hours, compared with a national average of 4.73 for similar operations, the MSHA database shows.

When Is a Miner Not a Miner?

2008-03-28T10:27:00.006-04:00

The moment he steps off mine property. But all the same, let's have a moment of silence for the unnamed victim of the latest fatal mine-related accident in West Virginia. The Charleston Gazette:

A Massey Energy worker was killed Thursday when he tried to help free a trailer that was stuck on a steep railroad crossing in Logan County, officials said....

Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, said MSHA does not have jurisdiction because the accident didn't occur on mine company property.

C.A. Phillips, deputy director for the state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training, said his agency would not investigate for the same reason.

Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said his agency would probably not investigate either.

The FRA investigates only a small number of railroad grade crossing accidents per year, Flatau said. The agency would send someone later to look at the crossing and see if steps could be taken to make it safer, he said.

MSHA's Louviere said the victim was employed at Massey company Highland Mining's nearby Freeze Fork Surface Mine.

OSHA is investigating this accident. But mining companies and miners would do well to be warned of the hazard involved, since many mines depend on rail transport.

The FRA warns truck drivers that vehicles with low clearances can easily get stuck on "humpbacked" railroad crossings. The agency says a train and a stuck low-clearance trailer collide on average once every two weeks nationwide.

Details:

The accident occurred at a steep, or "humpbacked," railroad crossing along W.Va. 17 near Stollings, authorities said.

A truck was crossing the tracks pulling a "low boy" trailer when the trailer became stuck on the crossing.

The victim, an employee of Massey's Mass Transport subsidiary, was attempting to free the trailer when he was struck by a piece of metal, said Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater.

"It was saddle-bagged on the railroad tracks," said Logan County Sheriff Eddie Hunter. "They attempted to jack it up and something flew out and hit the gentleman."

Authorities were notifying the family before identifying the victim.

MSHA administrator Kevin Stricklin has advised that we can mark our calendars to expect the federal agency's Crandall Canyon report in approximately late June, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Kevin Stricklin, administrator over MSHA's coal division, said the investigative team headed by Richard Gates has conducted all of its interviews, reviewed thousands of documents and currently is writing a draft report at an MSHA facility in Tridelphia, W.Va.

He was hesitant to speculate on a more precise completion date, noting that Crandall Canyon mine operator Murray Energy Corp. and its Utah subsidiaries are still submitting information to investigators.

"It's our responsibility to go through every page," said Stricklin of the need for a thorough probe of the mining disaster....

If history is any guide, the agency will need longer than estimated to complete the report, but officials will be under tremendous pressure to get the report out ahead of the anniversary date of August 6 if at all possible. This will allow the agency to take charge of the story lead at that time and defuse criticism before a spate of "anniversary" stories hits.

Last week, MSHA fined Murray Energy $420,000 for two flagrant violations of safety regulations at the Tower mine, contending the company repeatedly allowed buildups of potentially explosive coal dust there.

Stricklin said MSHA has issued 50 flagrant violation orders, seeking fines totaling $7.1 million, since the repeat-offense citation was created as part of the 2006 Mine Emergency and Response Act (MINER), enacted after three Eastern disasters early that year. ....

The Tribune recently praised MSHA for its use of the new, higher penalties for "flagrant" violations, using a somewhat fanciful extended metaphor:

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has a powerful weapon.... One that hits mining companies where it hurts... But a weapon is only useful as a deterrent if there is reason to believe it will actually be fired....MSHA pulled the trigger Thursday - twice - blasting Murray Energy subsidiary Andalex Resources Inc. with a pair of fines totalling $420,300... Murray managers, it seems, got what they were asking for... And the rest of the industry should pay heed. The much-maligned MSHA appears to be locked and loaded and ready and willing to pull the trigger.

Whooooeee, mining industry. Clint Eastwood is headed your way.

In the health department, a Kentucky coal miner has filed suit in an effort to force MSHA to reduce the respirable dust standard. The Charleston Gazette again;

Letcher County miner Scott Howard filed his suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in eastern Kentucky.

Howard wants Judge Karen K. Caldwell to force the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration to issue a tougher limit governing coal miners' exposure to respirable coal dust.

MSHA, Howard says in his lawsuit, has a "plain legal duty to promulgate a respirable dust regulation that will eliminate respiratory illnesses caused by work in coal mines."

The suit asks that MSHA be ordered to issue the tougher dust limit as an emergency temporary standard, a move allowed only if MSHA believes miners are at "grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful"...

Howard is represented by Stephen A. Sanders, a lawyer with the Appalachian Citizens Law Center in Whitesburg, Ky., and by Nathan Fetty, a lawyer with the Mine Safety Project of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.

If exposure to respirable dust is an emergency, it's also a long-running one.

Almost 8 years ago, in the closing days of the Clinton Administration, then-MSHA chief Davitt McAteer was desperately trying to push through a regulatory change in the way coal mine dust exposure is determined for enforcement purposes -- away from requiring an average of 5 samples, each taken over a whole shift, to a system where the agency could take action based on one sample showing an overexposure over the course of a whole shift. (The effort to make that simple change had been going on for years, in the face of multiple legal entanglements.) McAteer argued that the 5-sample requirement had no scientific basis and resulted in many individuals experiencing overexposures -- even under the current 2.0 mg/cubic meter standard -- without MSHA being able to do anything about it. The proposed change in protocol almost made it through the last set of regulatory hurdles before the White House changed hands -- but not quite.

Subsequently, industry and labor organizations agreed that they would prefer to wait for approval of a continuous reading dust monitor that a miner could wear. The new monitor was under development by NIOSH and billed as close to completion.

Miners are still waiting for an improved sampling system. That's another 8 years of breathing coal dust in essentially the same conditions.

Meanwhile, reducing the dust standard would be another way of achiving greater protection.

Sidelights: The National Mining Association recently found itself in the news as AP reported it spent

about $4.1 million in 2007 to lobby the government on mine safety and coal technology, among other issues...

The National Mining Association spent $2.4 million in the second half of the year lobbying the federal government on its own behalf, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office....The trade group -- whose more than 325 member companies include Arch Coal Inc., Foundation Coal Holdings Inc. and Terex Corp. -- spent $1.7 million in the first six months of 2007 to lobby on largely similar matters...

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.

Nice work if you can get it.

And if you happen to be in Washington, the Post reports, you might be interested in an upcoming concert next Tuesday or Wednseday evening out at Wolf Trap Farm Park:

SINGER KATHY MATTEA grew up in West Virginia; both of her grandfathers were coal miners and her mother worked for the United Mine Workers. After 12 miners died in the Sago mine explosion in 2006, she resolved to make an album of the coal-mining songs she had been stockpiling for years. "Coal" combines the mountain string-band sound of her roots with the studio polish of her Nashville stardom far better than might be expected.

On the other hand, if you're one of those folks with the NMA, you might not.

The album climaxes with Mattea's take on Hazel Dickens's classic protest song, "Black Lung"... Mattea's song choices are astute: You can't beat...Merle Travis's "Dark as a Dungeon" or Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive."

Does anybody out there know any songs about how great it is to be a miner, or even a mine operator? Or maybe a lobbyist?

Shaaaaaaaaaaamed

2008-03-27T15:48:00.021-04:00

After waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Been feeling bad about the gap for ages. Trouble is, guilt is the most paralyzing emotion. But onward.

First, updates related to a couple of fatal cases:

The state of Kentucky has come out with its report on the death of Roy Douglas Sturgill II, 29, this January 8 at the Cumberland River Coal Co. Blue Ridge Surface Mine, the Herald-Leader reports.

Kentucky mine safety officials have issued multiple citations in the death of a young miner who backed his rock truck over a highwall at a Letcher County strip mine.

...Sturgill...had worked at the Blue Ridge Mine in Ovenfork for less than three week...backed his Caterpillar rock truck over a dumping point at 12:45 a.m.

...There are no monetary fines for citations issued by the state on strip mines....

This was the first U.S. coal mining death in 2008. The MSHA report is still pending along with several others from last year.

AP picked up that MSHA has proposed some substantial fines at the Genesis, Inc., Troy Mine in Lincoln County, Mont.

But read carefully: the agency database as of today indicates that a penalty remains to be proposed for the single violation cited as contributory in the death of underground mechanic Michael E. Ivins, 55, last July 30. The roof fell on him as he sat in the cab of a truck.

MSHA cited the alleged contributory violation last August, stating:

Adequate ground support was not installed and maintained in the area to control the ground. The mine operator had knowledge of the unstable ground conditions in the area where the accident occurred. Failure to install and maintain adequate ground support to protect miners from ground fall hazards constitutes more than ordinary negligence and is an unwarrantable failure to comply with a mandatory standard.

AP is saying MSHA has now proposed the penalties for several alleged subsequent violations.

The fines...include $38,500 for not keeping workers safe while removing loose rock from the underground mine's ceiling and $44,600 for not properly supporting the mine's roof.

The company is contesting those alleged violations.

The Journal of Public Health reportedly is about to publish a study showing that health effects from coal mining extend beyond mine workers.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune,

WVU [West Virginia University] says the study found hospitalization rates rise with coal production and that coal pollution may kill 313 West Virginians a year.

The website Science Daily has more:

“Residents of coal-mining communities have long complained of impaired health,” Michael Hendryx, Ph.D., associate director of the WVU Institute for Health Policy Research in WVU’s Community Medicine department, said. “This study substantiates their claims. Those residents are at an increased risk of developing chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases....

"We’ve considered that chronic illness might be prevalent in these areas because rural West Virginians have less access to health care, higher smoking rates and poorer economic conditions,” Hendryx said. “We’ve adjusted our data to include those factors, and still found disease rates higher in coal-mining communities.”

...Their next steps are to directly measure air and water quality in coal-mining communities.

Foreign news: China has jailed some mine managers held responsible for a disastrous explosion.

SHIJIAZHUANG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Nine coal mine managers were sentenced to between two and six years in jail for a coal mine blast that killed 108 miners and injured 29 others in north China's Hebei Province...Shang Zhiguo, head of the Liuguantun colliery, was sentenced to six years in jail...The deputy head Li Qixin, who was also in charge of production safety, was jailed for five years...

The coal mine investor Zhu Wenyou and head of the mine safeguard department Lv Xuezeng were jailed for three years each. The mine ventilation department chief Liu Wencheng was jailed for fours years. Another four managers were sentenced to between two and four years in jail...

The gas blast was a serious accident caused by the illegal operation of the mine, Li Yizhong, former director of the State Administration of Work Safety, had said.
The coal mine was still under construction and did not have a production licence...the original design of the coal mine had been changed without approval... The coal mine, formerly state-owned and with a designed annual production capacity of 300,000 tons, was privatized in 2002.

Unfortunately, two new disastrous accidents in Chinese mines also are in the news:

ZHENGZHOU, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Two rescue operations in Chinese collieries to save a total of 10 miners trapped underground after separate accidents left a total of 10 dead.
Nine died in the first accident in a gas outburst in central China's Hunan Province at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday... Three workers managed to escape from the blast, which brought about 100 tons of coal down from the coal bed.

Four teams of rescuers were on rotation in the rescue operation, but tunnels were blocked by rubble that hindered the search.

The mine's operating permit and production license expired early last year, and it was not approved for operation, either, said Peng Youming, vice director of Chenzhou City Coal Mine Safety Bureau.

The gas monitoring system had not been in use due to a breakdown before the accident, Peng said. The colliery was privately owned and being merged with other mines under the local government's plan to reform the mining industry.

Another miner is dead and five are trapped below ground after a coal pit collapsed on Wednesday in central China's Henan Province....

Rescuers found two injured people, one of whom died later in hospital. Police are seeking the owner of the privately owned coal mine, Qin said....

Finally, oh, the shame. Someone has recently created a small flurry in the blog world with a new website titled "ShameOnElaine" that focuses on Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. Among the complaints made on the website are a number related to mine safety.

I have no idea who these people are, and was surprised to notice they listed MineSafetyWatch in their Blogroll.

The least I could do, I feel is to make sure there is something current on the MineSafetyWatch website in case anyone follows the link. The long gap since the previous entries really has been a matter of shame to me.

Crandall Canyon and Political Will

2007-11-17T12:47:00.001-05:00

Any major mine disaster can be counted upon to dominate MSHA's agenda for at least one full year afterwards. The Crandall Canyon disaster this August continues to make national headlines.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee has subpoenaed mine owner Robert Murray, CNN reported:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Senate subcommittee probing this summer's deadly Utah mine disaster has subpoenaed the mine's co-owner, ranking member Sen. Arlen Specter said Friday.

The subpoena for Bob Murray -- CEO and president of Murray Energy Group -- directs him to appear before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services on December 4....

"We're going to get to the bottom of what went on there," said Specter, R-Pennsylvania.

"Murray is an indispensable witness, and, candidly, he really flouted the authority and responsibility of the United States Senate to have his testimony to find out what happened so we could do our utmost to prevent future occurrences."...

Murray was invited to testify in an earlier Appropriations subcommitee hearing but did not appear.

The Department of Labor released an Inspector General report of MSHA conducted at the behest of Rep. George Miller. The Washington Post:

Report Faults Mine Safety
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 17, 2007; Page A08

U.S. mine safety regulators failed to conduct inspections required by federal law at more than one in seven of the country's 731 underground coal mines last year, a year in which the number of worker deaths in mining accidents more than doubled to 47, a government report says.

Budget constraints and a lack of management emphasis on worker safety by the Bush administration are responsible for the lapses, the Labor Department inspector general said in a report released yesterday....

The findings are likely to fuel a partisan battle heading into next year's presidential elections, as Democrats in Congress, mine worker unions and safety advocates clash with the administration and mining companies over whether the Labor Department has struck a proper balance between investigating unions and worker safety, and in seeking voluntary compliance from mine companies with regulations instead of assessing fines....

The report also found that MSHA officials misdated records of the most recent inspections at the Crandall Canyon mine. In one case, an MSHA field supervisor dated his approval of the mine's roof-control plan in February, four months before the May 30 start of the inspection....

...David James, a spokesman for Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, said the department disagrees with several elements of the report. Department officials look forward, he said, to the conclusions of an independent panel, appointed by Chao to investigate MSHA's performance during the Crandall Canyon disaster.

...Richard E. Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, said 70 percent of the uncompleted inspections were at mines that were "non-producing, inactive, intermittent or abandoned" during the inspection period.

..."Valuable and limited enforcement time by our inspectors should be placed primarily on identifying and abating hazards as a result of inspections rather than documentation and paperwork," he wrote.

...The inspector general's office found that the MSHA missed 147 inspections at 107 mines employing a total of 7,500 workers.

The report found that inspection resources were strained by a cut in inspectors and an increase in mining operations and accidents that had to be investigated. There was also less money for non-personnel costs and additional agency requirements, the report says.

The number of MSHA coal mine inspectors fell 18 percent between 2002 and 2006, from 605 to 496, while mining activity increased 9 percent nationally. Funding for the coal safety and health agency increased 1 percent over that period, to $117 million, but that was not enough to offset cost-of-living salary increases for its personnel, which grew $6.1 million.

The MSHA has hired 270 inspector trainees since July 2006, launched a plan last month to reassign inspectors and boost overtime, and asked for money to add 244 workers next year.

Auditors also said that MSHA officials misstated inspection statistics in reports and on the agency's Web site, partly because "management did not place adequate emphasis on ensuring the inspections were completed and the reported completion rate was accurate."

Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

And the Charleston Gazette brought out another aspect:

November 16, 2007
MSHA count called ‘inconsistent’
Labor report questions mine fatality procedures

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

The U.S. Department of Labor’s procedures for counting mining deaths are inconsistent and don’t follow the agency’s own written rules, according to a new audit report from the department’s Inspector General.

Investigators did not find instances where the departments’ Mine Safety and Health Administration decisions were “clearly contradicted by available evidence.”
But the report identified instances of non-compliance with MSHA policies and “control and procedural weaknesses that increased the risk that such errors could occur.”

“We found that investigators and decision makers lacked independence, investigative procedures were inconsistent, and investigative documentation was sometimes lacking,” the IG said in a report issued Thursday....

Starting in late 2003, the United Mine Workers began complaining that MSHA was not counting certain types of accidents that had previously been deemed chargeable. They cited examples: truck drivers, security guards, and loggers who cut trees in advance of strip mining.

In February, after looking into the matter, MSHA chief Richard Stickler issued a new policy that critics say tightens the definition of a mining death.

But the issue has remained controversial. Just last week MSHA agreed to designate as chargeable the November 2005 death of a coal trucker at Mettiki Coal in Grant County. MSHA did so after a Charleston Gazette article detailing the circumstances of trucker Chad Cook’s death....

The IG recommended that MSHA, among other things, add an independent member to its fatality review committee, implement standard investigative protocols for all death investigations, and create a quality assurance program for documentation of investigative information.

An interview with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) made ink as far away as Mineral Wells, Texas. Rockefeller doesn't think new laws are needed for better mine safety enforcement. His take is that it's more a matter of management, budget and political priorities.

November 15
BECKLEY, W.Va. — Enacting a new federal law is no solution to safety concerns in the coal industry since there is ample legislation in force to get the task done — if the Mine Safety and Health Administration would only do it, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller says...

In response to last year’s tragedy that left a dozen underground coal miners dead at the Sago Mine, Congress passed the MINER Act, calling for increased safety measures, but since then, the United Mine Workers of America has complained that MSHA has been lax in enforcing it.

Of chief concern with the UMWA has been the spotty record of conducting mandatory inspections.

“I don’t need a federal law to tell me to do my best every day,” Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said. “I just don’t.”

With inspections held in limbo at some installations, are some coal companies exploiting the situation?

Bristling at the question, Rockefeller said, “That’s a provocative question.”

“I don’t think that coal in this state has always taken every single advantage they could have, every possible thing they could do on their own,” he said....

Rockefeller said he has had “a very low regard” for MSHA under the Bush administration, and criticized director Richard Strickler as “an anathema to me.”

“I’m not sure that what you do is try to pass another bill, add some more things on,” the senator said. “First of all, it’s going to get vetoed.”

Secondly, mine issues appeal to a much narrower audience since coal is produced in only 16 states, unlike the State Children’s Health Insurance Program which is in force across the entire country, he noted.

“MSHA is meant to do rules and regulations and meant to have inspections all over the place,” he said.

Rockefeller suggested its failure to carry out its mission could lie in the daily $2 billion outlay to keep the war going in Iraq, combined with $3 trillion in tax cuts — “virtually all of which I voted against, except the earned income tax credits and things of this sort.” Those have just “wrecked this country,” he said....

E-mail

2007-10-01T20:44:00.000-04:00

To person from LD Productions: I can be reached by e-mail: ncwaort5 (at) aol.com

Also left a phone message at the NY office, but don't know if you'll receive it, since I only had your screen name.

Hearing Yesterday

2007-09-06T07:48:00.001-04:00

The first Congressional hearing on Crandall Canyon took place yesterday before the Appropriations subcommitee that oversees MSHA. In general Capitol Hill seemed unusually quiet in the wake of the Labor Day holiday. In attendance at the hearing: committee chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), ranking member Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) who heads the full committee, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and both of Utah's Senators, Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett.

This hearing, though, ran long as MSHA chief Richard Stickler answered a raft of questions. There was, justifiably, a lot of focus on the approval of the roof control plan for Crandall Canyon. Stickler declined to endorse the plan pending investigation. Former MSHA chief Davitt McAteer said it should never have been approved, as did UMWA president Cecil Roberts. Bruce Watzman of the NMA focused in mainly on the difficult effort to achieve true wireless, 2-way underground communication, in which there is some progress.

McAteer described and supplied, for display, a device that can monitor ground movements and help identify a rising risk of outbursts. These have been used routinely in South Africa, he said, and the U.S. may need them now as our Western coal mines plunge ever deeper. He said that excessive ground pressure can be relieved by controlled explosions if necessary.

Though there were many questions about the rescue effort, there was no direct criticism of the decision to keep rescuers at work despite outbursts that occurred as they were trying to clear and support a passage to the area of the missing miners. Listening to the narrative was heartbreaking all over again. Stickler said that until the final outburst that caused three fatalities, none of the other outbursts during the rescue disturbed the heavy-duty roof support the crews were putting in place as they went.

I had not previously heard that one miner at Crandall Canyon actually got notice of the order to evacuate via a "wireless" communication system that was publicized after Sago last year. This piece of information was mentioned by Bruce Watzman. In addition to the PEDS, the mine had a redundant hard-wired communication system in two separate entries, Stickler said, but the original massive outburst or collapse on August 6 ripped wire mesh down from the roof and the wires along with it. No absolutely wireless system exists at present that will penetrate throughout a mine; all depend on some kind of wire "backbone" at least, but it was good to learn that the PEDS did make a difference to one miner, anyway.

MSHA Has Posted

2007-09-05T07:41:00.000-04:00

all of the Crandall Canyon fatalities to its website as of yesterday afternoon. Apparently the agency distributed a statement on Saturday, September 1 (see comment on yesterday's entry), though that statement still doesn't seem to be on the website.

Commenter Tom Bethel also correctly pointed out that this is only the worst accident since last year. The Sago explosion, January 2, 2006, caused 12 fatalities. Apologies for the error.

More this afternoon.

In Memoriam

2007-09-04T10:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked 4 weeks since the Crandall Canyon mine collapse. MSHA told families of the missing Crandall Canyon miners that the search for them would not continue, a family spokesman told reporters. The announcement to the families reportedly came late on Friday before the three-day Labor Day holiday.

Search for missing Crandall Canyon miners halted
By Christopher Smart and Donald W. Meyers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/31/2007 08:53:06 PM MDT

Colin King, attorney for the miners' families, said this evening the officials with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration told the families that the search was "done, it's finished," and there are no plans to resume it.

The MSHA representatives, whom King did not identify, also told the families during a briefing at the Desert Edge Christian Church that the miners - missing since a horrific collapse on Aug. 6 - are considered to be dead.

It seems a little surprising that there appeared to be no official announcement by MSHA. As of 10:30 this morning, the agency hadn't updated its Crandall Canyon page since last Thursday, when official investigations were announced, and had not added the six missing miners to its official fatality statistics.

Is it possible that the news is not entirely correct or complete? I remember Sago so well -- staying up for 2 hours hearing news, via family members, that all the miners had survived. It was puzzling not to have an official announcement at Sago, but after 2 hours without a correction from government officials, there seemed no reason to doubt the information. How wrong that turned out to be.

Again, there seems to be no reason to doubt the information, but why has it not come directly from the federal agency? In the MINER Act passed in response to Sago, Congress directed MSHA to take the lead with the media during emergencies. Still, it seems most likely that MSHA's official announcement is merely being held off for some reason.

On that assumption(footnote, Salt Lake Tribune):

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
IN MEMORIAM

The Missing Crandall Canyon Miners
Kerry Allred
Don Erickson
Luis Alonso Hernandez
Juan Carlos Payan
Brandon Phillips
Manuel Sanchez

The Rescuers
Dale R. Black
Gary L. Jensen
Brandon Kimber

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

May they never be forgotten. In addition, let us remember six more injured in the rescue effort, who, I believe, have never been identified, although one is known to be an MSHA employee.

Altogether, this is the worst disaster in almost 6 years. There is a sad similarity to the previous tragedy on September 23, 2001, in which 13 coal miners died. A methane explosion had injured one miner; the other 12 were rushing to his aid when the second explosion occurred.

Nevada Gold Miner Missing in Ground Collapse

2007-08-29T08:43:00.000-04:00

More than 3 weeks now since Crandall Canyon, and no good news. MSHA, the state and Congress have announced their investigations.

This morning the Times-News, Twin Falls, Idaho, reports a Nevada gold miner is missing after a ground collapse:

ELKO, Nev. - An unidentified miner is missing after a ground failure at the Getchell underground mine occurred about 2 a.m. Tuesday at Barrick Gold of North America's Turquoise Ridge Mine near Golconda.

According to Lou Schack, Barrick's director of communications and community affairs, the miner is an employee of the contract firm Small Mine Development....

The miner was operating a bolter - a piece of equipment that drills and installs rock bolts used to stabilize areas where mining occurs - when the ground failed, said Schack.

The bolter was partially buried by debris, said Schack.

Mine Safety and Health Administration representatives are on site and managing the rescue effort.

There are two underground mines on the site - Barrick employees work the Turquoise Ridge operation and SMD runs Getchell....

...the incident...is similar to a recent event at Newmont's Midas Mine. Dan Shaw, a loader operator, was killed June 19 when he and his loader fell roughly 100 feet following a ground failure.

Thirteen days later his body was recovered in an MSHA-led operation. That accident remains under investigation....

Hoping for the best.

No Good News

2007-08-23T13:28:00.000-04:00

The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

HUNTINGTON - The fifth borehole drilled in search of six men trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine showed the worst results yet - a near-complete cave-in within the main escape tunnel.

A mere six inches exist between the ceiling of the mine and tons of rubble

.
While in China,

Desperate efforts to save 181 Chinese coal miners from two shafts flooded with water and mud face near impossible odds, as a safety official says mine owners failed to anticipate the threat of disaster...Rescuers face more than 12 million cubic metres of water mixed with 300,000 cubic metres of mud and coal in the main shaft, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) estimated on its website.

MSHA has taken charge of family briefings at Crandall Canyon:

"[Murray]told [members of one family], 'Well you've lectured me twice. I don't want to hear from you anymore either,'" Jackie Taylor said. Taylor said Mine Safety and Health Administration head Richard Stickler apologized to the families, and that he and Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon asked Murray not to participate in any more family briefings.

This again exemplifies why Congress in the MINER Act last year directed the federal agency to take the lead in communications with family members and media during an emergency. At Sago, the problem was different but the principle was the same. Personnel at many mine operations are not trained or prepared for these aspects of handling an extended emergency, which in most cases, thankfully, will never arise at that operation. Part of MSHA's regular job is to remain prepared for these emergencies.

Questions continue regarding MSHA's approval of retreat mining in the operation.

Had federal regulators known about the March collapse, maybe they would have denied the request. Or maybe not. Industry analysts say the MSHA under the Bush administration has a reputation for catering to mine operators by emphasizing production over safety.

That may or may not be the case under Richard Stickler. I hear mixed reports, including opinions from at least some current MSHA employees that Stickler is a good safety man who was leading the agency in a helpful direction. At the same time, however,

the mine workers union and others say Stickler has failed to change the climate at MSHA from one of "really coddling mine operators," said Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, which opposed Stickler's appointment and is calling for an independent investigation of the accident.

"What we're not seeing is a change in culture," Smith said. "I think the Crandall Canyon incident reflects that."

It's not hard to predict that Congressional committees will hold multiple hearings into this latest tragedy and possibly other aspects of safety. Whether MSHA will be left to conduct a regular accident investigation, followed by an internal review, before those hearings take place, is an open question.

If it was necessary to predict, I would guess that MSHA will likely be subject to some additional form of oversight during the investigation, possibly public investigative hearings as at Sago, Congressional investigative hearings, or some kind of unique partnership arrangement with another investigative entity. Mr. Stickler's tenure when his term as a recess appointee runs out, I would say, is also in grave doubt.

These predictions are not a pre-judgement on Mr. Stickler, still less on the MSHA staff. I am keeping an open mind on the actions of MSHA's decisionmakers before the Crandall Canyon collapse. I worked with, and greatly respected, some of the people who are currently in the MSHA chain of command, and would find it difficult to believe those former colleagues were negligent on safety in any way. But I think Congress may have no choice. When very bad things happen, significant changes follow and heads, most often, roll; that is so in the corporate world no less than in government.

I would hope that professional MSHA accident investigators be permitted to do their part of the job, with additional public scrutiny of the process, rather than having the investigation of the accident taken entirely out of their hands. Coal mining is specialized enough that outside investigators working alone would be at a severe disadvantage. The investigation into MSHA's own role at the mine before and during the accident is generally separate, but whoever does that also needs to have specialized knowledge.

Meanwhile, family and friends said goodbye to one of those former colleagues, mine inspector Gary Jensen:

[Secretary of Labor Elaine] Chao [Mr. Stickler's boss] said he exemplified the best qualities of MSHA workers by never hesitating to risk his own life to help save another. "He reaffirmed what is best in the human heart," Chao said. "Like those at 9/11, he rushed in, a selfless hero, to help others. He is the best the country has to offer."

And at the same time,

...unnoticed, all across America, in the hollows of West Virginia and the mountains of Kentucky, in the hills of southern Illinois and the gorges of Montana, tens of thousands of coal miners in this country have quietly continued to do what they do 365 days a year: quarry the depths of the earth for the billions of tons of coal that create more than half of the nation's electricity.

The Chicago Tribune story is well worth reading in its entirety.
Work that started after Sago continues. On technology, as another manufacturer announces an approved wireless communication system for underground coal miners in West Virginia,

Rajant Corporation, a leading provider of portable, reliable, and adaptable wireless networking solutions, announced today that its BreadCrumb® wireless system has been approved and listed by the West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health, Safety and Training (WV OMHS&T) for use by mining permit holders.

and NPR explores the possibilities of robot miners.

Robots can go where humans dare not tread: down debris-strewn corridors filled with flames and noxious fumes. Engineers envision robots acting as the modern-day version of the canaries that were once lowered into coal mines to check for poisonous gasses...

The biggest obstacle, though, is cost. The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up

And Crandall Canyon has apparently given the necessary impetus to Pennsylvania's effort to update an antiquated mine safety statue.

Shortly after the Utah mine collapse on Aug. 6, Gov. Rendell issued a statement saying he would make passage of a new mining law a priority this fall, and the chief sponsor of a long-stalled mine bill is prepared to introduce a more comprehensive bill this fall.

Meanwhile, mine operators and union negotiators, often at odds over regulations, say they are working toward agreement on controversial provisions contained in that phone-book-size bill.

"Evil Mountain"

2007-08-22T16:27:00.000-04:00

As hope wanes, the Salt Lake Tribune reports:

The operator of the Crandall Canyon coal mine says no one will be going back into the tunnels where six men have been trapped since Aug. 6.

That means the bodies of the miners may never be recovered.

"I told (the Mine Safety and Health Administration) it is an evil mountain, it is alive, and I will never go back there," Robert Murray said today.

Two weeks and two days. Too long.

"...it is alive..."

So it must seem to some -- almost as if an active malice was frustrating every attempt to reach the missing men.

And yet, everyone knows that the rock mechanics of mining -- especially at great depth -- are not entirely predictable. Even with modern geological knowledge, what miners find underground always remains to some extent, an unknown quantity.

That's why even in routine mining, miners and mine managers have to be on the constant alert for signs of developing problems. They make regular safety examinations, write down their findings, scrutinize and correct problems. If signs show that a roof control plan is not working as intended, they update it. At least, that's how it goes under prudent safety practices and existing requirements.

In a non-routine situation, unpredictability is worse. Supports can go down like a line of dominoes -- and either quickly or gradually -- as rock stress shifts with every succeeding collapse.

Jerry Tien, a mining engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla:

"That area, geotechnically, it's pretty challenging, we all know that. But the people who are mining there are also pretty experienced," Tien said. "You make a professional judgment and things turn out to not be what you think."

Once the full investigation begins, a key question will be the plan.

Robert Murray insists that his company did not change the mining plan at Crandall Canyon after purchasing a joint interest in the mine last August.

But documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune clearly contradict Murray's assertion, and show that Murray's company sought and received approval from federal regulators to make a significant, and, experts say, risky change to the mining strategy.

Records of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) show that, after Murray acquired a 50 percent ownership in the mine on Aug. 9, 2006, his company repeatedly petitioned the agency to allow coal to be extracted from the north and south barriers....

Work in the north barrier progressed until March, when the mine suffered a major "bump" - a jolt in the mine caused by the pressure of the mountain bearing down, often causing the roof to fall in, floors to heave or coal to explode from the support pillars.

That incident still doesn't show up in MSHA's publicly available database.

The March bump damaged tunnels over a span of more than 700 feet, and prompted mine operators to abandon their retreat mining in the northern barrier. Instead, they asked MSHA for permission to mine the south barrier...

MSHA approved the plan relatively quickly.

...Murray's company...asked MSHA to approve a change to the mine plan on Nov. 11, 2006. MSHA officials spent just seven business days reviewing the request before approving the mining in the north barrier.

I'm not prepared to cast blame at this point. There are too many aspects that need evaluation: besides MSHA's judgement at the time, changes in mining conditions that came later, actions after those changes, and whether the mine was complying with the plan.
Also worth looking into: after the three major accidents in 2006 (Sago, Aracoma Alma, and Darby) MSHA investigated its own operations and reported that the offices responsible for the those mines were short of specialists in fields like mine ventilation and electrical systems. The agency had moved many specialists into regular inspectors jobs, and the remaining specialists sometimes cut certain corners in an effort to keep up with the work load of plans requiring approval. This may not have been a factor at Crandall Canyon, of course; it's just one of many questions to be asked.

I also want to say one thing about the inspector who was killed. He last visited the mine in May and found no roof problems, the Tribune reported. I hope no one is jumping to the conclusion that he should have found violations, in light of the accident that folowed 4 months later.

From a roof control point of view, 4 months ago is a very long time. By the date of the accident, the active mining area would have moved a long way -- likely thousands of feet, I would imagine. Conditions may have changed radically. Practices may have changed also. Mine personnel are responsible for scrutinizing the mine systematically for potential hazards several times a day because the workplace changes constantly and in ways that are not always predictable. A "clean" roof inspection at a given time says nothing about how it will be 4 months in the future.

MSHA's "J" Order Option

2007-08-18T13:04:00.000-04:00

We now know the identities of all three of the Crandall Canyon rescuers killed Thursday. The Salt Lake Tribune (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6656145) reported:

"The victims were identified Friday as Brandon Kimber of Price, Dale Ray Black of Huntington and Gary Jensen, a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector in the agency's Price office. Five other miners and a second MSHA inspector were injured."

MSHA's directory shows that Gary Jensen was a roof control specialist in the Price, Utah, field office. Other news stories have given his age as 53.

Deepest sympathies to the families of the lost rescuers and also to their colleagues and friends in MSHA and the industry.

The Tribune story continued: "Stickler earlier said it would take almost three weeks alone to set up the drill rig and a couple of weeks to bore the sizable hole [for a rescue capsule to descend into the mine].

"Given the circumstances, however, 'we've talked to Mr. Murray and the company that they need to get moving in this direction,' Stricklin said, noting there is a capsule reasonably close to the mine."

In emergencies, ideally the mine operator, MSHA the state mine agency and any labor organizations involved will work closely together. MSHA typically issues a control order under section 103(k) of the Mine Act, which leaves the mine operator in control of the operation and requires that actions be cleared with the federal mine agency.

Many people are unaware that, should cooperation bereak down, MSHA has another option. MSHA can actually take over a rescue or recovery operation under Section 103(j) of the Mine Act (http://www.msha.gov/REGS/ACT/ACT1.HTM#8).

"j) In the event of any accident occurring in any coal or other mine, the operator shall notify the Secretary thereof and shall take appropriate measures to prevent the destruction of any evidence which would assist in investigating the cause or causes thereof. ****In the event of any accident occurring in a coal or other mine, where rescue and recovery work is necessary, the Secretary or an authorized representative of the Secretary shall take whatever action he deems appropriate to protect the life of any person, and he may, if he deems it appropriate, supervise and direct the rescue and recovery activities in such mine.****"

[Stars for emphasis are mine.]

I was told while working at MSHA, but haven't independently verified, that the federal mine agency had not issued a "j" order since 1976. In that year, the second of two explosions at the Scotia Mine in Kentucky took the lives of an entire rescue team including three federal inspectors. My understanding is that the Scotia Mine at the time of the second explosion was under a "j" type control order issued by MSHA's predecessor agency, the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA), then in the Department of the Interior.

What To Say?

2007-08-17T17:01:00.000-04:00

Three dead in in a massive outburst of rock pressure in the Crandall Canyon rescue attempt. Two miners and an employeee of MSHA. Several more injured, including another MSHA employee. Rescue operations suspended. Salt Lake Tribune:

Among the dead were miners Brandon Kimber and Dale R. Black. Kimber is a father of three from Price; Black is 48 and from Huntington. The identity of an MSHA employee killed in the cave-on has not been released.

There will be a time for investigations; for analysis; for meticulous unraveling of the details. There will be a time for debates about engineering and rock mechanics, about the performance of the instutitions involved, and about the role, if any, of politics. Many questions will have to be asked and answered in time.

But for one moment, let us suspend all of that.

For one moment, let us simply reflect on the lost rescuers, their families, their friends, their co-workers and their community. Imagine the agony that must be in their hearts.

Those who have poured their energies and their souls into the difficult and dangerous rescue effort for more than 10 days probably number by now in the hundreds. Taking part in the response to a mine emergency has always brought out the most shining qualities among many of the emergency workers, miners, managers, technical specialists, and numbers of people in the community at large. That is true in success or failure.

Too often in the past, rescuers have been unable to reach missing miners in time to save their lives. And that is a shattering, searing experience, as I know first-hand, from being with the rescue attempt after the Southmountain Mine explosion in 1992.

And now, loss of life among the hard-working, supremely courageous individuals serving with the rescue crews -- this is devastating. The personal desolation is deepest for their families and friends, of course. But let us remember, everyone involved with the tragedy is, without a doubt, suffering to the very soul. Indeed, the whole mining community is hurting for these losses.

Words fail; just for a moment, only silence seems a tribute adequate to this grief.

One Week

2007-08-13T13:53:00.000-04:00

And still no good news from Crandall Canyon. I am so very sorry for everyone who is going through this.

It's reported that MSHA chief Richard Stickler met for 3 hours yesterday with the families of the missing, and he is now holding regular press briefings. That is commendable.

I will probably be out of touch for a few days, but thinking of the miners and rescuers all the time.

MSHA Press Conference

2007-08-12T17:28:00.000-04:00

Ellen Smith of Mine Safety and Health News reports to her subscribers (in part):

Just as I sent the last email, MSHA had a press conference.

Rescue workers are installing timbers on 2.5-foot centers along the rib. Despite this support, MSHA head Richard Stickler said they are dealing with "the most difficult ground conditions -- ever" and conditions are getting much more difficult. There continue to be severe bumps and outbursts along the ribs.

Stickler said they are now drilling a third hole...The two escapeways and the beltline are blocked, so they will now drill where they think the men could go....

Stickler said he would make no time commitments on any part of the rescue operation.

Rock-Pressure Bursts Impede Rescue Effort

2007-08-12T15:11:00.000-04:00

Just got word via e-mail from Ellen Smith of Mine Safety and Health News that two "bounces" occurred overnight in the Crandall Canyon mine where rescuers are still struggling to reach 6 missing miners. Miners speak of a "bounce" or "bump" when coal bursts from the wall of the mine tunnel due to extreme rock pressures. These can happen during active production as well, and the flying coal has caused fatalities and injuries.

Both incidents reportedly interrupted the rescue efforts. Workers returned to the mine after each incident, Ellen reported. She said media have been waiting all day for an expected news briefing from MSHA.

The rescuers who continue to work in the face of further evidence of unstable ground are undertaking a significant personal risk in the hope of saving the missing miners, just like the teams who fought for days to reach 27 missing miners in the face of a December 1984 Utah mine fire.

At this point, fatigue is certain to be a factor -- among those managing the emergency as well as those physically working underground. In a protracted emergency, decision makers, technical personnel and miners all need to be rotated. In the heat of the event, it can be very hard to let go and allow back-up personnel to take charge for a time, but lack of rest can impede awareness, slow down responses and impair judgement. I hope decision-makers are managing the fatigue factor.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that evidence indicates the original incident involved "floor heave" rather than a collapse of roof strata. Extreme rock pressures can actually squeeze mine floors upward.

The Tribune also reported ground control problems at the mine dating back to March and said it wasn't clear whether the mining company followed advice it sought from an engineering consultant.

Once the emergency is over, there will obviously be questions about MSHA's approval of the the roof control plan as well as whether the mine operator followed the plan as the agency approved it.

Borehole is Through at Crandall Canyon

2007-08-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

The Salt Lake Tribune has this:

HUNTINGTON -- A second bore hole has been punched through to a central Utah mine cavity where six miners are believed to have been trapped for five days.
The rescue-drilling project -- an 8 5/8-inch wide, almost 1,900-foot-long shaft through which food, water, video cameras and sensors can be dropped -- reached its destination about 3 a.m. Saturday, said Robert Murray, owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine.

There was no immediate word whether rescuers had determined whether the six, cut off since a cave-in occurred at the Emery County coal mine early Monday morning, are alive.

More details are out now on the triple fatality in Indiana, although the company was still withholding names pending notification of relatives. The Indianapolis Star

The open-top bucket was somehow "upset" inside the shaft as it was descending, and the three men fell to the bottom, Zugel said. He said he did not know what caused the bucket to shift.

All other workers were accounted for, Zugel said. Gibson County Sheriff Allen Harmon said the three bodies had been removed from the shaft.

The "sinking bucket" can hold six to 10 people and is about 6 feet high, worker John Ervin said. The three men were the only people in the bucket at the time, state Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said.

"I don't understand how this could have happened," said Ervin, who added that the chain holding the bucket is inspected daily.

At the start of a shift, the bucket typically takes about six people down to the work area at the bottom of the shaft, Ervin said. The distance is comparable to a 40-story building...

Gibson County Coal's last fatality was in November 2001, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. A miner died after being pinned by equipment, and operator error was cited as the cause.

Last year, the mine administration cited the company for 353 safety violations -- 127 of which were deemed "serious or significant," said Rodney Brown, a spokesman for the agency, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor...

"It's the inspector's judgment that the violation, if left unchecked, would lead to a serious injury. In issuing our citations, that's basically an order to fix the problem," he said.

And, it entails a civil penalty of $60 to $60,000, or up to $220,000 for aggravated cases.

Further details on Crandall Canyon:

Murray Energy Vice President Rob Moore said rescue teams were slowed by "some difficult roof conditions" in one section, requiring them to slow their forward advance while erecting additional roof and wall-support materials to prevent more caving.

But mine owner Murray also noted that rescue teams also found small, 2- to 4-foot sections of tunnel in which no caving had occurred.

"They can be traveling by foot to a point and then they can't travel" any farther without having to haul out piles of coal and rock, he said. "The pace they're going is much faster because they're not reaching the magnitude of outbursts."

In addition, Moore said rescue teams had widened part of the tunnel, increasing prospects of doubling the amount of machinery that can be used to remove rubble.
Still, the rescue team has no idea whether more or less fallen rock will be encountered as they progress deeper into the mine.

The suspense is brutal. Even more so, if possible, for a community that held its breath through a protracted rescue effort in 1984. Twenty-seven miners died in the fire that broke out December 19, 1984, at the Wilberg Mine. Rescue teams struggled heroically for days, at great personal risk, to reach the missing but finally had to withdraw as the fire raged beyond control.

Both company and government officials now seem to be continuing the practice of regularly updating the families and --through the media -- the community. That's the way it was traditionally done, up until Sago.

Ellen Smith's editorial of yesterday was noted in the Tribune also. The paper reported on the same page:

Assistant Secretary of Labor and Director of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Richard Stickler says there will be no MSHA investigation of the Crandall Canyon mine collapse until the rescue operations are concluded. Beginning such a probe now, he says, would be a distraction to both rescue workers and company management.

"We are trying not to interfere," Stickler said.

I don't quite get it that MSHA would allow the distraction of running a news crew underground to get on-site video of the effort but not the "distraction" of starting a mandated investigation. It is to be hoped that the coment was taken out of context. If MSHA is still running investigations as it always did, MSHA investigators should already have taken some preliminary steps, such as securing copies of the mine operator's pre-shift, on-shift and other safety examination records.

Triple Fatality Reported in Indiana

2007-08-10T15:21:00.000-04:00

As sometimes happens with long drill holes, it appears the drilling effort to reach the Crandall Canyon miners went into the wrong area, and another hole had to be started. If all goes will, it should reach the correct area today, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, AP reported that three miners died in Indiana this morning during a shaft-sinking operation. Early reports were that the accident involved a lift bucket in the shaft. I spoke to Tulsa, Okla., based Alliance Resource Partners, L.P., which confirmed that the accident was at their Gibson County Coal, LLP, complex. The miners involved worked for Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc., which is a specialist mine construction firm based in Evansville, Inc. Alliance referred me to Frontier-Kemper for details. Frontier-Kemper said it was sending out a news release, which I haven't yet seen.

Sinking of mine shafts can be very hazardous. In January 2003, a methane explosion killed three miners who were sinking a shaft for the McElroy Mine in northern West Virginia. During the past year, in my day job for Mine Safety and Health News, I've written accounts of several serious nonfatal incidents involving the use of lifting platforms and buckets in shaft sinking. I have wondered if there was an increase in shaft sinking activity in the industry, or some other factor involved.

MSHA's usual practice at least since McElroy has been to hold the independent contractor in a shaft sinking operation responsible for safety as long as the new shaft isn't connected to the mine. Regarding independent contractors at mines generally, MSHA can hold the mine operator and/or contractor responsible based on their specific activities and degree of control over safety and health conditions.

What the ???

2007-08-09T14:03:00.000-04:00

It sounds as though the public-information pendulum has swung with a vengeance, and now mine operator Robert Murray and MSHA are allowing people underground during the Crandall Canyon rescue effort who, according to standard mine rescue practice, definitely should not be there.

CNN:

Since mine rescue became a trained discipline in the early 20th Century, I cannot recollect one other instance of untrained observers or anyone not necesary to the rescue effort being allowed underground during an active rescue attempt.

In a classic example, I was at Southmountain in 1992, where rescuers struggled for a week to reach missing miners afer an explosion. A media pool was allowed on site in a safe surface area to take pictures of the surface area only, and key VIPS -- including then Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin -- visited with family members and with rescue workers on the surface only. The first priority was not to disrupt or distract from the ongoing rescue efforts.

Normally, MSHA's control order during a mine emegency requires the mine operator to get permission for all actions during the emergency. So MSHA apparently is allowing this? At the same time, MSHA's first priority during an emergency is to make sure that no further accidents occur during the effort, as happened, for instance, in the Scotia Mine disaster of 1976. It's hard to believe what I'm hearing.

Ellen Smith of Mine Safety and Health News has just circulated the following editorial, which is posted here with permission. (Writing for MSHN is my day job.)

High Negligence and Reckless Disregard?

Many of us in the mining industry are glued to the news and mining officials for any tidbit on the rescue of six men trapped in an underground coal mine in Utah.
As Mine Safety and Health News reporter, Kathy Snyder, wrote yesterday morning in her blog: "Right now, ground stability is a problem as the rescue effort progresses. In the deep western coal mines, ground pressures can be extreme. Mines have pushed deeper and faced tougher ground control problems as the easier coal has been mined already. Even in normal mining, significant roof falls are not that uncommon. Normally, no one is hurt, but there is always that potential. The science of rock mechanics is complicated. An action in one part of a large mine can affect ground stability in ways that a non-specialist could not predict, and it can even be tough for specialists. A major collapse has the potential to cause an evolving chain reaction."

Kathy should know. As an MSHA employee and press officer for 20 plus years, she had to deal with mine rescue operations, including the Wilberg disaster that occurred in Utah.

We all know that there have been two major mine collapses in the last 13 years -- Azko and Solvay. We also know that we don't really know why these were such major failures that registered 3.6 and 5.1 on the Richter scale respectively.
So as someone who has covered the health and safety side of this industry for 18 years, and gone to both surface and underground mines, I could not believe what I was seeing on CNN news and reading on MSHA's website this morning: a television crew and accompanying reporters, and family members, being allowed inside the mine to view the rescue operations.

I sat glued to the T.V. watching the CNN newscast this morning -- speechless.
All I could think of was: What was Robert Murray thinking when he allowed these non-rescue personnel into the mine? What was MSHA thinking to allow non-rescue personnel into this mine? I was stunned. CNN reported they were at the mine rescue “face,” a 30 minute, 3-mile ride inside the mine, where rescuers are removing the debris trying to get to these trapped men.

Then, while the reporters were filming, (and I don't know if the family members were there at the same time), a severe bump occurred physically shaking the mine, crew and machinery – scaring everyone. As the CNN reporter said, “Frankly, this was very scary. I have to tell you that I have been in Afghanistan and Iraq and that was scary... this was very scary in another way.”

Mr. Murray later claimed that the area in which the film crew and families were allowed to tour was "safe." Mr. Murray said he’s in charge, and he has invited the family members to go back into the mine this afternoon. Mr. Murray also said that MSHA approved of the *news reporters and two family members, who have mining experience, going into the mine. (*The news reporters do not have mining experience).
I have been told on many occasions by MSHA that during a rescue operation, the mine is made "safe-enough" for rescue, but that it certainly is not brought up to the same safety standard as if mining were taking place. In addition, Mr. Murray this morning noted the lack of progress because of “seismic activity,” and he stated in the press conference this morning (MDT), “we could have more seismic activity.”
My point exactly. Why risk any more lives?

Let's look at this in a different context: we aren't even letting family members on "stable" portions of the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed. We don’t let people in damaged houses if there are aftershocks from earthquakes.

This isn't supposed to be a "feel good" operation. If the family members want to feel closer to their loved ones, arrange a safe place at the mine site where they can pray together. MSHA can take the lead in assuring the families that everything possible is being done to get to their loved ones.

If the news crews want to see what it is like inside of a mine, have them go to one of the tourist mines or another underground mine in Utah that isn't under a rescue mode of operation. If the news crews want to experience the feeling of "seismic" activity, let them go on Disney's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

I don't say this to be sarcastic.

My point is this: What did this accomplish, especially if another catastrophic failure or "seismic event" was to have occurred? What precedent does this set for future rescue operations?

I have defended the record of this mine from the first hour of this accident. I have defended the industry and the strides it has made since I began covering mine safety and health issues in 1989. But I will not defend what I see as high negligence and reckless disregard on the part of MSHA and Mr. Murray for allowing these people into the mine during this very serious rescue operation when "seismic activity" continues to occur, and when no one knows why such a catastrophic failure occurred to begin with.

Not Again

2007-08-08T13:49:00.000-04:00

As everyone knows by now, six miners remain missing after more than two days in a massive ground collapse at Genwal Resources' Crandall Canyon Mine, and the effort to get to them is not going well. It does, however, seem reasonable to hold out hope.

I'm relying mostly on the the Salt Lake Tribune, which is posting frequent updates and a running index of related stories.

Reports are that workers are drilling 2-inch holes from the surface to the area where the missing men are presumed to be. These could provide communication and supplies. Apparently the holes need go 1,500 feet in all. Such drilling is not a fast process, and sometimes long drill holes encounter problems or miss their target. We can hope for the best in this.

The latest in the Tribune is that the Mine Safety and Health Administration is deploying its seismic system for locating trapped miners. The story discourages to much optimism on that, quoting MSHA's review of it sown actions following the 2006 Sago mine explosion. MSHA then called the system: "old, outmoded, cumbersome and time-consuming to deploy." It has emphasized that the system has never saved a trapped miner.

MSHA failed to mention that the system has saved lives -- in seismic events. One case was after a massive earthquake in Mexico City, where MSHA's seismic detection team found people people buried alive in rubble several days after the catastrophe. I can't recall the year, but believe it was in the 1980's. The Mexican government later honored the MSHA employees for the rescues, including Jeff Kravitz, who still works in the agency's mine emergency operations division. The seismic system does have limitations, and might not have been useful at Sago, but to imply that it has never saved lives just isn't true.

MSHA had other potential motives for downplaying the value of the seismic locator system. At Sago, the agency was slow off the mark in getting the system to the mine site, and took criticism for the delay.

One thing that worries me, if the miners are alive, is that after Sago, MSHA and others turned away from teaching the classic advice to miners who are trapped, to pound on the roof and walls of the mine so that rescuers might detect their signals. At Sago, everyone was horrified to learn that the miners were pounding out signals, but no one was listening. If MSHA is listening at Crandall Canyon, would the miners believe it was any use to signal? The full procedure, which used to be taught, included listening for three shots from the surface, then pounding out a signal. Were these miners taught that procedure?

I also worry about the ground stability as the rescue effort progresses. In the deep western coal mines, ground pressures can be extreme. Mines have pushed deeper and faced tougher ground control problems as the easier coal has been mined already.
Even in normal mining, significant roof falls are not that uncommon. Normally, no one is hurt, but there is always that potential. The science of rock mechanics is complicated. An action in one part of a large mine can affect ground stability in ways that a non-specialist could not predict, and it can even be tough for specialists. A major collapse has the potential to cause an evolving chain reaction.

That said, I believe there's still hope. Crandall Canyon could come out like the Quecreek mine rescue in 2002 rather than like the Sago explosion last year. I'm encouraged that MSHA chief Richard Stickler has gone to the site. The agency also said it's making family liaisons available to the relatives of the missing, a great improvement over the Sago debacle. As in the Sago explosion, MSHA did not initially take the lead in informing the public through news media about Crandall Canyon. But MSHA is talking now, at least. In this respect MSHA seems to have recovered its understanding, enforced in last year's MINER Act, that the federal mine agency exists to serve the community, not the mine operator alone.

They Got OUT!

2007-08-01T14:18:00.000-04:00

Wow, Quecreek times (more than) seven.

Sixty-nine coal miners who were trapped in a flooded shaft in China for more than three days were rescued today.

The miners, who were uninjured, were trapped underground after the state-owned Zhijian mine, in Shan County, Henan province, filled with river water early on Sunday. Thirty-three others managed to escape.

The men were pulled out alive at midday to applause from onlookers, the Xinhua news agency reported. Most were unable to walk unassisted, but some were carried away on stretchers.......

Rescuers piped air into the shaft in an attempt to keep the miners alive and buy time in which to save them.

They poured 549 litres of milk down an 800-metre ventilation pipe, and the men drank it from their helmets. Xinhua said the milk was their only source of nourishment in 76 hours.

Hundreds of rescue workers struggled to prevent more river water from entering the mine as they pumped floodwater from the shafts and cleared silt.

Earlier, Xinhua said the area where the miners were trapped was dry, and had both electricity and a telephone line....

Still Digesting the Internal Reviews

2007-07-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

I'm catching up on coverage of the MSHA internal reviews. Didn't want to read other stories until I got oriented to the reports independently. (By the way: The fact that I quote one story and not another on a national matter usually has a lot to do with time and chance and is not to be taken as a judgement on whose story was first, better or more important. I have about 1/2 hour in a day to do this blog and can't aim to be the Wikipedia let alone Britannica of mine safety. :) )Further snippets, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

...Phil Smith, spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, voiced skepticism about the new [accountability] office [announced by MSHA in the wake of the reviews], given the acknowledged inadequacy of MSHA's existing accountability program.

"Now they're going to establish a new accountability office? It's still going to be their people reporting on their people."

What's needed, said Mr. Smith, is an external review of mining accidents and MSHA enforcement. "When you look at these reports, they found deficiencies in three different MSHA districts. To us, that indicates a pattern."

The voluminous reports reprise descriptions of problems identified previously -- uneven enforcement, inadequate standards for and poor construction of mine seals and insufficient training in the use of emergency oxygen devices.

Kevin Stricklin, who is now head of MSHA's coal program, was district manager for northern West Virginia at the time of the Sago explosion. Mr. Stricklin and his staff of inspectors had stepped up enforcement at Sago but "their evaluations of gravity and negligence were adversely influenced" by conference officers who would reduce the severity of the violations, the review found...

Tony Oppegard, a mine safety expert and attorney representing four of the Darby widows, said he found the Darby report hypocritical. "They issue a 200-page report where they hammer their own inspectors and supervisors, then conclude they didn't contribute to the accident. It's illogical."

"West Virgina's Legal Journal," the West Virginia Record, had this on a recent safety discrimination case:

MADISON - A Boone County man was awarded more than $2 million in punitive and compensatory damages after he filed a wrongful termination suit against Independence Coal Company, a Massey Coal subsidiary.

Rocky Allen Burns filed the case May 11, 2006, claiming his firing was a retaliatory move after he reported safety problems to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Burns worked as an in-house safety inspector with the Independence Coal mine.

A jury awarded Burns with $98,862 in back pay; $800,692 in back pay and $100,000 in aggravation, inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment and loss of dignity. He was also awarded $1 million in punitive damages, making the total awarded damages a little more than $2 million.

The State Journal recently caried a lengthy piece about a Logan County, W.Va., mine and equipment-company owner who is pursuing approval on an airlock door intended to turh a portion of the mine into a refuge chamber -- basically sounds like "barricading" taken to a much more systematic level.

In a welcome development, China is reporting a drop in coal mine acidents, says Xinhua News Service:

Updated: 2007-07-03 01:39

The number of coal mine accidents in China in the first half of 2007 totaled 1,066, down 242 from the same period last year, based on figures released by the country's safety watchdog on Monday.

The death toll was 1,792, 14.3 percent lower than the same period last year, according to officials with the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS) and the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

The death ratio in producing one million tons of coal was 1.633, down 19.9 percent compared with the same period last year, said SACMS Director Zhao Tiechui...

Meanwhile coal continues to drive China's energy bus, the same news service reported:

Updated: 2007-07-03 09:17
China's primary energy consumption rose by 8.4 percent in 2006, six percent more than the growth rate of global consumption, according to a report released by BP on Monday.

The world consumption rose 2.4 percent last year, slowing from a rise of 3.2 percent in 2005, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy...

The world's coal consumption rose 4.5 percent in 2006, while China saw a rise of 8.7 percent in coal consumption in the same year to account for more than 70 percent of the global coal consumption increase.

China's coal consumption was 1.19 billion tons of oil equivalent in 2006, and remained self-sufficient in coal consumption with coal output reaching 1.21 billion tons of oil equivalent...

According to Xinhua's calculation based on BP statistics, China's coal consumption accounted for 70 percent of its total primary energy consumption, with oil consumption accounting for 20.6 percent, natural gas use 2.9 percent, hydropower use 5.6 percent and nuclear power use 0.7 percent.

Finally, a Fort Meade, Fla., earthmoving contractor that does some of its work at mines has advertised on Monster.com that it's looking for a safety supervisor. The advertised salary is $40,000 to $50,000. Needs to know MSHA regs, MSHA certification a "plus."

The Watchdog Has Now Reported on Itself

2007-07-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

MSHA came out with three separate internal review reports last Thursday, evaluating the agency's own performance prior to the three major disasters of 2006: the Sago explosion, the Aracoma Alma fire, and the Kentucky Darby explosion. It looks as though the federal mine safety agency had plenty to say about itself that was not complimentary. I'm still reading.

Public relations sidenote: By putting out bad news on three fronts all in the same day, the agency minimized publicity "hits" that would remind the public of these events. Instead of three internal-review stories on three days, the public gets one story on one day. Similarly, MSHA issued reports (including violations) and penalties on the same day for each of the accidents. Before Sago, the issue of the accident report/violations in any mine accident routinely preceded the announcement of penalties by weeks or even months. Now -- for high-profile cases -- MSHA is releasing the report, citations and penalties together. For the three 2006 disasters, that meant three news stories instead of six.

Altogether, therefore, instead of nine stories on the upshot of that terrible 2006 season (which would have been one report/violations story, one penalty story, and one internal review story on each of three accidents), the public has seen a total of four stories. Fewer reminders of bad news.
One summary of the reports was in the Charleston Gazette:

By Ken Ward, Jr.
Staff writer

Federal mine safety officials overlooked obvious violations, declined to take serious enforcement actions, and wrote regulations that were far too weak at three mines where 19 miners died last year, according to three new internal Labor Department reviews.

Staff cuts, agency reorganizations and an emphasis on “compliance assistance” also eroded the ability of the department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration to protect miners, according to the long-awaited reviews released Thursday.

Richard Stickler, assistant labor secretary for MSHA, pronounced the findings “deeply disturbing.” Stickler announced plans for a new MSHA Office of Accountability to correct the problems.

“These three reviews show an unacceptable lack of accountability and oversight that will not be tolerated,” Stickler said in a memo to all MSHA employees, released to the public along with the reports.

...But the most serious problems cited in the three MSHA reports were at Massey Energy’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine, where 2 workers died in a Jan. 19, 2006, fire.
“The team members are unaware of a similar situation in which health and safety hazards were so prevalent, and conditions in the mine so deplorable, yet MSHA personnel at so many levels failed to follow established agency policies and procedures which are designed to provide that coal mines will be fully and effectively inspected,” the Aracoma interview review concluded....

The blame issue remains potentially controversial.

MSHA inspector Minness Justice said Thursday that he and Edward Paynter, the last two agency inspectors at Aracoma, have been notified that they will be fired in 30 days.

“They’re blaming the two inspectors,” Justice said. “MSHA management was a huge part of the problem.”

Since the fire, several key MSHA supervisors with roles over Aracoma have retired. They include former District Manager Jesse Cole and supervising inspectors Bill Gillenwater and Jake Blevins.

The MSHA internal review of Aracoma backs up some complaints from Justice that staffing cuts, reorganizations and philosophical changes at agency headquarters undercut the protection of miners....

A few comments reported in the Beckley Register-Herald:

By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald reporter

...“For too long, MSHA has served as compliance assistants for mine operators while letting their core responsibilities of safety oversight wither,” Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said of the report...

“I take no personal pleasure in pointing out that if the agency had been doing its job properly, most of the miners we lost this year and last would still be with us.”...

Byrd interpreted MSHA’s internal review of the Alma accident as “a straightforward and unflinching look at how mistakes, omissions and indifference compound into disaster.”

While the Sago report zeroes in on some specific failures, Byrd said it wasn’t “quite the definitive report I had hoped for.”

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, also D-W.Va., said the MSHA findings gave the federal agency a chance to be honest and up-front about its shortcomings.

“While I appreciate that this type of analysis by the agency must have been difficult, no matter how hard MSHA tries to spin it, clearly the violations that their inspectors failed to find — or ignored — at Alma contributed to the disaster,” the senator said. “And, at the very least, MSHA should have done more to end the slow walk of the Sago Mine operators toward compliance.”

More funding is on the way, and the Bluefield Daily Telegraph editorializes:

Key funding secured this week by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is an important step in helping to improve safety conditions for miners not only in the Mountain State, but also across the nation.

Byrd, also chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said millions of dollars will now be directed to the Mine Safety Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to help implement key provisions in the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act and the Coal Act...

The welcomed federal funding secured this week is $13 million above President Bush’s budget request to help improve MSHA’s ability to perform all mandatory inspections. ...

Byrd also secured $3 million over the president’s budget request for the National Mine and Safety Academy in Beckley to continue infrastructure improvements; $2.2 million for the United Mine Workers of America to provide classroom and simulated rescue training for mine rescue teams at its Beckley career center; and $6 million for black lung clinics across the Mountain State.

We applaud the increase in federal funding for these vital mine safety improvements. However, the fight to protect our miners and their families must continue. We can’t stop until we know that all miners in the Mountain State, and across the nation, are afforded the best protections and safety enforcement possible.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports some coal industry pushback against large companies, including energy producers, that last year signed on to a cooperative effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.

By Steve James

...Robert Murray, chairman and chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., warned the coal industry could collapse with the loss of 3 million to 4 million jobs if carbon dioxide emission controls are introduced.

He has even put his money where his mouth is by refusing to do business with Caterpillar Inc... a manufacturer of the very mining equipment his company needs.
"There are a number of companies that are promoting constraints on coal use to achieve greater profits and/or competitive advantages," Murray said at the coal conference.

He branded more than 20 major corporations that make up the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) "un-American" for allying with environmental groups he calls "enemies of coal."

USCAP, which backs moves to cap carbon dioxide emissions, includes Caterpillar, General Electric Co., Dupont Co., AIG, General Motors, Dow Chemical Co., Johnson & Johnson, Pepsico Inc., Alcoa Inc., and ConocoPhillips.

"I've been trying to get their attention," Murray said. "(CEO) Jeffrey Immelt of GE and I debated this for about 45 minutes, but I didn't convince him of anything because he sells windmills ... he wants to see the global warming come along."

There was no immediate comment from GE. Caterpillar said that while it would not debate the science, it believes it is incumbent on industry to reduce emissions.

"Knowing this debate is going to get under way in earnest we're here to protect the interests of our customers, particularly coal," the truck and tractor maker said in a statement. "We can be more effective protecting those interests by supporting a single national mandate ..."

...Murray, whose private company produces about 30 million tons of coal per year, has formed the Coal-based Stakeholders Chief Executive Officers Group, comprising CEOs of railroads, some coal companies and utilities. It opposes so-called "cap and trade" regulations, arguing that caps on emissions will devastate the U.S. coal industry which fuels about 50 percent of the country's electricity generation...

Blogsphere Loses Well-Known Job-Safety Site

2007-01-24T13:38:00.000-05:00

Jordan Barab, who has maintained the "Confined Space" blog focusing on job safety and health for years now, yesterday announced that he is taking another job that will make it impossible to keep up his work on the site. He's going to a staff job on Capitol Hill, where he'll have policy input.

Commenters are writing in already to say how much they'll miss his work and wondering what can fill the gap.

"Confined Space" has in many ways been a fine insipration for what blogs at their best can be: Illuminating, interesting, in-depth -- making connections, filling in gaps, and contributing original material -- and also very important -- updated virtually every single day.

I've long admired it and wondered how Jordan could manage it along with the job he had before!

His next-to last post was an excellent example, giving an in-depth update on the situation in Libby, Mont., where back in the 90's, the town was found widely contaminated by asbestos from a recently defunct mining operation. Well worht reading.

Thanks, Jordan, for blogging all those years, and best luck!

Belt Air Under Scrutiny

2007-01-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

One of the interesting things last week was introduction of a federal bill to outlaw use of "belt air," that is, air that has passed along a conveyor belt where it could pick up potentially explosive dust, to ventilate the working face.

Excerpt from one story, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

One year after a fatal belt fire killed two coal miners at West Virginia's Aracoma Mine, two congressmen say they want to ban the use conveyor belt mine entries as a means to ventilate underground working areas.

Democratic Reps. Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan, of West Virginia, yesterday introduced a bill calling for the ban yesterday, the one-year anniversary of the fire in which Donald Bragg, 33, and Ellery "Elvis" Hatfield, 46, died of smoke inhalation after becoming separated from their crew.

The fire at Aracoma's Alma Mine No. 1 on Jan. 19, 2006 started at a conveyor belt used to take coal to the surface.

"The use of the belt entry to ventilate mines, as was the case at Aracoma, is egregiously dangerous," said Mr. Rahall, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, in a release.

The one-paragraph bill directs the U.S. Secretary of Labor to revise mine safety regulations "to require, in any coal mine, regardless of the date on which it was opened, that belt haulage entries not be used to ventilate active working places."

But there are always complications, as this exceprt from the Charleston Gazette indicates:

Many mine safety experts believe that using conveyor belt tunnels as fresh-air intakes helps to spread underground mine fires and the toxic fumes that they generate. Belt air can also block crucial emergency escape routes, and expose miners to a greater risk of deadly black lung disease, those experts says...

At Aracoma, investigators have not yet blamed the use of belt air along the conveyor belt where the January fire occurred for the blaze or the deaths of Bragg and Hatfield.

In fact, the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training found that Massey mine managers had somehow allowed ventilation in that entry to be reversed, so air was flowing away from the working face...

After the Aracoma fire, Gov. Joe Manchin said his administration would ban the use of belt air in West Virginia.

At about the same time, West Virginia’s congressional delegation included a ban on the practice in a broader mine safety bill.

By the time the federal bill passed, the belt air ban was watered down to a one-year study by a task force appointed by MSHA.

Presumably, under the bill, if passed, MSHA would still be able to allow use of belt air if a company filed a "petition for modification" of the no-belt-air standard, which is how it was done before the rules changed in 2004. The mine operator has to show how an equal or greater level of safety will be achieved. In 2004, MSHA said it had the experience in evaluating so many peititons that it was possible to set general standards to allow any mine safely to use belt air without going through an individual approval process.

The law allows MSHA to essentially lift ("modify the application of") any safety standard at an individual mine if the mine operator makes a good case and passes an investigation. So how much difference in practice will a regulatory ban make? That would presumably depend on the rigor of the petition process.

Lesson on Blogging

2007-01-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

OK, so I take a few days off at the holidays. On returning, there are more than 100 news stories piled up related to mines and mine safety. I tell myself I'll "catch up" the blog when I get past the next deadline on my paying job. By then, there are almost 200 stories piled up. Next thing, it's more than a month since anything new went up. Lesson: if it's missed, then it's missed.

Taking up from today:

Pressure for stronger mine safety legislation in the wake of last winter is by no means at an end.

Appalachian News-Express:

HAZARD - Democratic lawmakers were joined yesterday by widows of miners, mine safety advocates and union representatives to support the passage of new mine safety legislation.

“Somebody has got to stand up for the rights of the miners,” said Shelbiana miner Gary Conway, who was fired from his job at Misty Mountain Coal after voicing concerns about safety in the underground mine.

The legislation, recently introduced in the House by Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, calls for more mine inspections, additional safety measures and would allow the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing to initiate disciplinary proceedings against mine foremen for violations of federal, as well as state, mine safety laws.

Supporters say the legislation is desperately needed in the industry and long overdue. “None of these provisions are radical,” said advocate Tony Oppegard. “Most are common sense solutions.”

And the Herald-Leader:

HAZARD - Claudia Cole's husband died in an underground roof collapse. Stella Morris' husband bled to death without receiving first aid. Melissa Lee and Tilda Thomas both lost their husbands to an underground mine explosion.

State Democratic lawmakers yesterday met with these and other widows, coal miners, safety advocates and union officials in Eastern Kentucky's coalfields to back newly introduced legislation that they say will prevent similar mine fatalities.
"We've got to make sure miners are safe in Kentucky's mines," said House Speaker Jody Richards, of Bowling Green, who was joined by Reps. Brent Yonts of Greenville and Leslie Combs of Pikeville.

The mine safety bill, sponsored by Yonts, would double the number of mine inspections, require all underground miners to carry a methane detector and beef up onsite emergency personnel, among other things.

The Courier-Journal editorialized:

Detractors have argued for decades that the state mine safety program isn't as rigorous as its federal counterpart.

Why? Because, the theory goes, state regulation is more vulnerable to all the Frankfort politicians who get campaign cash from coal operators and their allies...

It that true? The paper earlier reported finding

seven times more federal than state citations per inspection.

raising some questions about the state program's effectiveness, obviously.

I would like to comment on the state accident investigation reports, since I report on these things regularly in my real job. I think it is well worth while to have the state doing its own independent investigations in addition to MSHA. This provides a cross-check, not only to keep everyone honest, but also comparing the reports often fills in gaps and creates a more complete picture of what happened, two eyes provide 3-D vision. I think that sometimes the state's report is better and sometimes MSHA's. Sometimes when one agency skates over an issue in an investigation, the other will nail it. Whatever happens with the state agency, I hope the investigative program will be preserved.

International news:

We have in China, an update on a case where a coal mine operator had a pair of journalists murdered for asking too many questions. There is now a suggestion (no way to evaluate) that this was more of a shakedown operation than a news gathering effort. Whichever it was, corrupt practices in the mining industry were the root cause of this incident.

And here is a link to a blogger in India who has posted a lengthy indictment of the coal mine safety system there. Illegal mining is one of the problems described. I suggest readers take a look and evaluate this piece for themselves.

Safety Problems Cited In Mine Layoffs of More Than 1,000

2006-12-16T15:17:00.000-05:00

Safety hazards, at least in part, were responsible for two recently announced major coal mine layoffs totaling more than 1,000 jobs, one in Alabama and one in Washington State.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Drummond Co. said Monday it would lay off 455 workers from Alabama's largest coal mine, which has been temporarily shut down since October because of continuing problems linked to an underground blast nearly 10 months ago.

Birmingham-based Drummond said it would retain only 81 of the 536 union members who work at the Shoal Creek mine, located in Western Jefferson County. The skeleton work force will maintain the mine, Drummond's last underground operation in the state...

...Phil Smith, a spokesman for the United Mine Workers of America, said the layoffs were apparently linked to the accident earlier this year.

"It's a sad day," he said. "We're told this may be something that goes on four to six months. We hope they can work through their problems and get the mine back open."...

Shoal Creek, which employed about 680 people earlier this year, was damaged by a partial roof collapse, explosion and fire on Feb. 24. No one was injured, but production had to be halted because of extensive damage that required repair.

Workers resumed mining in August on a limited basis, but two production units remained idle. The mine was slow to recover because of the extent of the damage and a shortage of equipment, mining division president Mike Tracy said in October...

The Seattle Times:

Few people knew the TransAlta coal mine outside Centralia was shutting before the gates actually closed Monday. But a lot of people saw it coming.

A cascade of forces helped make the closure virtually inevitable, from the age and geology of the mine to changes in state tax law, say mining and energy experts.
It boils down to this: It makes more economic sense to haul trainloads of coal from Wyoming and Montana to fuel Centralia's power plant than it does to dig it out of the plant's backyard....

Compare that with the coal seams in Centralia, one of them known as "The Big Dirty." They are fractured and undulating, close to the surface in places, but plunging deep elsewhere. Much of the coal was dirty and required cleaning. And the mine is 35 years old.

"We were moving more and more dirt and getting less and less coal," said Doug Jackson, president of TransAlta's U.S. operations....

On top of it all, huge sections of a main coal pit fell in last summer and again in early November, burying some of the coal and pushing costs to the breaking point, the company says....

A local blogger comments:

Yes this was a complete shock to everyone but a handful of people. It's kind of somber around town. My husband worked there but was on medical leave and will possibly be retrained. Just not for anything there. We are doing OK but were in the process of making some life changing decision anyway. We really feel for the other people that worked there. Many were totally unprepared and where do you find 600 new jobs in area this size? It sucks for Christmas. We have been through this before when we closed our business and we'll get along fine.

The blogger also quoted a November 28 story from the Centralia Chronicle, which can't easily be accessed online at the paper, but here are a few tidbits:

TransAlta shut down its coal mine northeast of Centralia Monday afternoon, laying off 600 workers, and striking a significant hit to Lewis County's economy....

Jackson cited an increase of $80 million in mining costs in the past year, including high diesel and steel expenses, at the Big Hanaford Valley facility.

He described two major landslides in the mine last year as the "straw that broke the camel's back."...

...Last month, the Mine Safety and Health Administration closed the mine temporarily until a corroded support structure was replaced on the preparation platform.

In August, a blade failed in a turbine at the TransAlta's Steam-Electric plant, shutting down power production of the 700-megawatt unit for 44 days...

State Sago Report Delayed, and More

2006-12-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

West Virginia's spokeswoman just advised that the state is delaying release of the Ofice of Miners' Health, Safety and Training report of the January 2 Sago explosion that was previously announced for today,

"in deference to the requests and needs of the family members for additional information about the Sago Mine accident report"...

The state said the report will be available "later," without being more specific.

Meanwhile a bevy of significant mine safety stories have piled up. Here are some of them:

From Pennsylvania:

The state Department of Environmental Protection has filed 23 citations against a Schuylkill County coal company where a miner died in an Oct. 23 blast.

That was an explosives accident at the the R & D Coal Co. Buck Mountain Slope anthracite operation.

Workers descended into the shaft at R&D Coal in Tremont Township yesterday to fix the problems, which have to do with ventilation, said DEP spokesman Tom Rathbun.

The mine cannot be reopened until those problems -- along with at least eight others cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration -- are resolved, Rathbun said.

AP reports on a national review of coal mine accidents.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coal companies must replace by-the-book compliance with a culture of prevention if they want to eliminate the underground fires and explosions that are killing miners, says a panel of experts releasing recommendations for the industry yesterday.

The Mine Safety Technology and Training Commission has studied 25 years of fires and explosions to produce more than 70 recommendations aimed at eliminating deaths and serious injuries in an industry that has had its worst year in decades.

Complying with state and federal regulations is insufficient because not every risk can be addressed in a rapidly changing environment, said Larry Grayson, commission chairman and a professor of mining engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla.
"Unfortunately, it's easy to interpret that if I comply with the minimum requirements of the law, I'm going to be OK," Grayson said. "That's often a bad assumption."

The catch-phrase, "culture of prevention," has some prior history in mine safety. It first seems to have cropped up in an agreement signed by MSHA and the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association in early 2003. Former Assistant Secretary of MSHA Dave Lauriski started coupling it with his signature phrase, "Safety is a value." For instance:

March 11, 2003

There is a key phrase in the agreement that MSHA recently signed with the NSSGA that says, "We need a culture of prevention."

We need to make safety a value - a central thing, a part of us, deeply held, like our patriotism, like our caring for our families, like the value we put on a day's work for a day's pay.

By the autumn, he was using it in a more general sense, as before the National Safety Council in September 2003:

...two messages that we've been emphasizing at MSHA in the past two years:

· Safety is a value. It is a value to miners and their families, the company's reputation, and the bottom line.
· A culture of prevention. Everyone's actions will reinforce safety when prevention is part of the culture.

It's a good phrase. Just to give credit where it's due.

Ken Ward had a recent piece othat apparently sheds light on a different kind of culture at one mine:

A Massey Energy foreman testified Thursday that company managers told him to not perform pre-shift safety examinations, but to sign records falsely indicating that he had done the checks.

William Edwin Wine described the instructions he had received during a hearing before U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver.

“I was told to do it this way by my supervisors, by my bosses,” Wine said during the hearing in federal court in Charleston.

Wine testified in a hearing on the federal government’s motion to disqualify the law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle from defending Massey subsidiary White Buck Coal Co.... Prosecutors allege that White Buck failed to perform the required pre-shift safety check, and then falsified records to indicate that the check was done.

Now prosecutors say the Spilman firm should not be able to defend White Buck because one of its lawyers, Mark Heath, at one time represented Wine during a civil investigation of the pre-shift examination violation....

Ward also recently had a substantial inteview with new Assistant Secretary for MSHA Richard Stickler. The whole body of the piece seems to me to be balanced and well worth reading.

A few snippets:

If the Sago disaster had occurred a few days earlier, in 2005, it would have made that year’s death count 34, about average for the last decade or so, Stickler said.

“If you move Sago up two days, then in 2005 we have just an average year and 2006 would have been just an average year,” he said.

“Mine safety doesn’t see a calendar,” Stickler said. “It doesn’t know what year it is or what day it is.”....

On Friday, Stickler visited West Virginia to tour a Webster County coal preparation plant operated by Brooks Run Mining.

In a news release, MSHA noted that the facility won a prestigious Sentinels of Safety Award in 2005 for having no reportable accidents during its employees’ 122,000 hours worked that year.

But in 2004, two Brooks Run miners were killed in a five-week period, one at the preparation plant Stickler visited and another at a nearby underground mine. MSHA cited the company in both deaths, and Brooks Run paid a total of $66,000 in fines.

“They had those two fatalities, and they made a commitment that they were going to do something drastically different,” Stickler said during a Friday afternoon visit to the Gazette-Mail newsroom. “Obviously, this company has made a commitment to safety. That’s the way they’re running their business.”...

Stickler, 62, grew up in Barrackville, just northwest of Fairmont. His father was a miner, and he watched his grandfather die of black lung...

Stickler promised that his agency would begin to take stronger enforcement action against that “very small percentage” of renegade operators.

“The big picture is that the biggest problem is a lack of compliance with the laws we have on the books,” Stickler says...

Tax breaks for mine safety and health:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., said legislation passed by the House on Friday afternoon contained key provisions for improving coal mine safety, cleaning up abandoned mines and providing health benefits for miners whose companies have gone out of business.

He explained that HR 6111 contained a great many last minute unrelated legislative initiatives, but few were as important to the Mountain State as the provisions that affect the coal mining industry...

Mollohan said the bill included tax incentives that will allow mine operators to expense 50 percent of the cost of qualified mine safety equipment that is put in service within three years of enactment of the legislation and a three-year training tax credit related to mine rescue training team programs.

“These provisions will encourage mine operators to take the steps necessary to improve mine safety," Mollohan said. “It should lead to significant improvements in a timely manner that can help save the lives of America’s coal miners."

A third important component of the bill is the reauthorization of current law that allows interest from the Abandoned Mine Land trust fund to be diverted to three plans that provide health benefits for coal miners whose companies have gone out of business. It also provides mandatory payments from the US Treasury to the benefit plans when needed....

Top Story: WV Reportedly Finds Sago Cause Was Lightning

2006-12-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

The AP talked to the UMWA and others who had an inside track, according to this story:

By TIM HUBER
Associated Press Writer
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) -- State investigators have determined that a lightning strike sparked the methane gas explosion deep inside the Sago Mine, where 12 coal miners died in January, a union official said.

Lightning had been suspected from the beginning, and a nearly yearlong state investigation ruled out other potential causes for the explosion, said Dennis O'Dell, the labor union's health and safety coordinator....

This has scooped those of us who are awaiting the report's official release on Monday. I hope the early released information is not a surprise to the families.

Special note: today marks the 14th anniversary of the Southmountain mine explosion, in which 8 were killed, near Norton, Va., December 7, 1992. This milestone hits with a pang every year. I was one of the MSHA crew that spent 6 days at the mine during the attempted rescue. Mike Abbott, of the Va. DMME, and I drove up and down a mountain several times a day between the command center (an old trailer with balky heating)and the foot of the mine road, where families and friends of the missing miners waited in tents and busses supplied by the Red Cross, in bitter cold and often in snow, for word on the rescue effort's progress. There, with other officials and engineers when possible, we'd brief the families and then the media who waited with them, standing in the mud beside the railroad tracks. As hope faded, so did the media interest; while rescue teams were still searching, amid setbacks from hazardous gases, the U.S. entered Somalia, pushing the mine accident off the front page; and in the end, there were the eight fatalities, and the heartbreak for their families, and a fresh grief for each of us to carry home that Christmas season. It was a baptism of sorts into the true and very personal meaning of our mine safety mission. Afterwards, there were investigations, ending in both fines and jail sentences for those responsible, and a fund was established with those fines for the education of the children who lost their fathers; no true recompense, but some measure of justice. You could write a book about it all.
But the emotions always come back at this time of year, when bare twigs blur the tree-covered hillsides, almost like smoke, bringing back that thin smoke rising from the mine mouth, and the winter is setting in. The winter is the time when most of the explosions happen.

I pray that underground coal miners everywhere are closely watching their four basic lines of defense against similar explosions: following the ventilation plan; careful preshift and onshift exams; control of ignition sources -- and definitely, no smoking; and finally, thorough rock dusting. May everyone come safely through this hazardous winter period and may the holidays be good days for all.

State Report Out On Darby

2006-12-01T11:41:00.000-05:00

From AP:

Probe: Safety Lapse Killed Ky. Miners

By SAMIRA JAFARI
The Associated Press
Friday, December 1, 2006; 11:16 AM

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- Safety violations including use of an open-flame torch near a leaky methane seal sparked a deadly underground explosion at an eastern Kentucky mine in May, authorities said Friday.

The protective seal was "poorly constructed" and failed to meet federal guidelines, according to a report from the state Office of Mine Safety and Licensing...

The torch ignited the leaking methane as two of the victims were repairing metal straps that intersected the top of the seal and were used as underground roof supports, the report said.

"In this case, what was done was clearly against regulations," said Susan Bush, commissioner of the state Department for Natural Resources...

Tony Oppegard, an attorney representing four of the victims' families, said the miners' widows still had unanswered questions about who ordered Brock and Lee to repair the straps.

"It didn't bring any peace at all. I think it was very difficult for all of them," Oppegard said Friday. "There was anger and sadness."...

According to witness testimony, Brock had said they had to make repairs to the area before a federal inspector from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration returned to the site two days later.

MSHA, which is conducting its own investigation into the blast, declined to let state investigators interview the inspector.

A lawyer for Ralph Napier, an owner of mine operator Kentucky Darby LLC, called the state's report incomplete.

"We disagree with many aspects of the report. But I don't want to get into specifics right now," attorney Kent Hendrickson said. "There's a more complete MSHA federal report to follow."...

Montana Coal Mine Fatality

2006-11-28T17:30:00.000-05:00

Just posted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration website:

Fatality #46 - November 28, 2006
Powered Haulage - Surface - MT
Spring Creek Coal Company

The MSHA data retrieval system lists the controlling company as RTZ-CRA Group.

No further details apparently available at this point.

This makes 70 mine deaths so far in 2006, counting coal, metal and nonmetal mines.

Today's Top Mine Safety Stories

2006-11-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Kentucky's Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training has issued its report on a fatality this May. (MSHA's report was out earlier.) The agencies found that the miner was ordered to drive the truck without proper training. Ralph Dunlop has an account in today's Courier-Journal:

The superintendent of an Eastern Kentucky surface coal mine violated federal and state laws when he knew that a company water truck had a defective engine brake but told an employee to drive the vehicle anyway, investigators have concluded.

A few hours later on May 23, the 10-wheel Mack truck raced out of control down a steep mountain road in Breathitt County and overturned at the bottom, crushing to death its driver, Steven Bryant...

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and the state each issued four citations to Miller Brothers Coal in July, including one from MSHA accusing it of "high negligence" for knowing about the inoperative engine brake yet telling Bryant to drive the truck...

..."The gentleman who put him in (the truck) should be held responsible," his mother, Debbie Bryant, said in an interview. "He shouldn't have done what he done. I don't want to see another parent go through what we went through. He was our only child."

...Bryant had been employed at the Risner Branch mine for barely a month, and with Miller Brothers since January. He normally worked on the blasting crew, where he'd been trained to drive a truck with a different type of transmission. He was driving the water truck only because the regular operator had been assigned elsewhere and another employee begged off, saying he didn't know how.

And AP reporter Tim Huber reports that in West Virginia,the new state mine safety director is beginning an anti-drug effort by setting up a test program for his own staff:

...West Virginia's new mine safety chief is preparing to test his agency's staff for illegal drug use.

Ron Wooten doesn't suspect a drug problem at the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training. Rather, he considers testing a first step toward combatting what he believes is a widespread drug problem in the coal fields of the nation's second largest coal producer....

United Mine Workers of America spokesman Phil Smith said there's little evidence to support suspicions that drug use is more prevalent among miners than any other segment of society...

Chris Hamilton with the West Virginia Coal Association said the industry supports drug testing. A number of coal companies have drug testing policies for their employees...

"There is no reason to think that mining is any different or drug use is any less common than what's found in society," he said...

Testing at Miners' Health, Safety and Training would be confined to inspectors and other employees allowed to drive state vehicles, Wooten said. Everyone would be tested next month, followed by random tests determined by a lottery system.

"I can't be out there talking about drugs and getting rid of them if I'm not sure that our house is clean," Wooten said. "We're going to make sure of it."

Kentucky, with a recent new program, is the only state where the government is involved in drug-testing miners. (See post from a few days ago.)

MSHA had an anti-drug and anti-alcohol abuse outreach program in the 1980's. A committee from industry, labor and government including HHS set it up. A strong theme was that testing and punishment are not a sufficient answer; the lives of employees who may be hooked on drugs, or alcohol, and their employer's past investment in them, may be salvaged if they are given a tough choice -- lose your job, or commit to and stay with a meaningful recovery program.

The group at the time considered alcohol abuse at least as much of a safety problem in the mining industry as use of illegal drugs.

Change In the Weather?

2006-11-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

Something's happening here.

In checking out articles about all aspects of the coal industry, lately there has been a feeling of change in the wind on a subject usually considered tangential to mine safety and health, but highly important to the future of the mining industry: global warming.

News article after news article in the widest variety of outlets during the past couple of weeks has described nations and states and little communities wrestling with the energy promise and the known problems of coal. The impression I have is that most of these debates are not -- at the root-- driven by politics as usual, but represent a variety of efforts to grapple with what more and more people are seeing as a real, nitty-gritty dilemma that affects them personally.

Then this weekend, a front-page piece in the Washington Post indicated that a shift seems to be coming, perhaps has come already, not only in public and but also corporate opinion:

Energy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Change
By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin

While the political debate over global warming continues, top executives at many of the nation's largest energy companies have accepted the scientific consensus about climate change and see federal regulation to cut greenhouse gas emissions as inevitable.

The Democratic takeover of Congress makes it more likely that the federal government will attempt to regulate emissions. The companies have been hiring new lobbyists who they hope can help fashion a national approach that would avert a patchwork of state plans now in the works. They are also working to change some company practices in anticipation of the regulation.

"We have to deal with greenhouse gases," John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., said in a recent speech at the National Press Club. "From Shell's point of view, the debate is over. When 98 percent of scientists agree, who is Shell to say, 'Let's debate the science'?"...

Exxon Mobil Corp., the highest-profile corporate skeptic about global warming, said in September that it was considering ending its funding of a think tank that has sought to cast doubts on climate change. And on Nov. 2, the company announced that it will contribute more than $1.25 million to a European Union study on how to store carbon dioxide in natural gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea, Algeria and Germany...

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the federal government is obligated to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant; its decision could force the government to come up with guidelines.

The Los Angeles Times had more on the Supreme Court case:

States Will Tell Supreme Court Feds Must Act on Warming
By David G. Savage

Washington - The polar icecaps are melting, summers growing hotter and hurricanes becoming more powerful, but the Bush administration has insisted it cannot regulate the gases that many believe are responsible.

On Wednesday, a coalition of 12 states, led by California and Massachusetts, will try to persuade the Supreme Court that the nation's environmental regulators have the legal authority and responsibility to control greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming - which many scientists describe as the biggest environmental threat to the planet....

Dealing with carbon dioxide, an inevitable byproduct of burning, is tougher than dealing with coal contaminants such as sulfur, but not impossible. Already there are specific plans underway in the U.K. for one facility intended to pack away waste carbon dioxide in rock strata far underground.

Meanwhile, as energy demands continue to rise and in some areas, mushroom, communities worldwide are debating whether to build more coal-fired power plants, whether to let existing ones continue, whether to allow more coal mines, and on what terms.

All this bears on the future well-being of the coal industry -- and, according to the growing consensus, the future well-being of humanity as a whole -- including miners, their children and their children's children.

Widow's Lawsuit Targets "Services" Firms

2006-11-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

Last week, the widow of a coal miner filed a private wrongful-death lawsuit against several companies that provided "management, engineering and safety services" to her husband's employer.

The Harlan Daily Enterprise had a detailed report. Workers' families can rarely or never sue the direct employer for an on-the-job death. That right was traded off long ago in exchange for set workers' compensation payments that do not require a lawsuit to obtain, although it's commonly recognized that in today's terms, these payments are low.

Some selections from the Enterprise story:

The legal team representing the family of deceased miner Russell Cole is hopeful that a jury trial into allegations of miscommunication and a lack of training at Stillhouse Mining LLC will take place in the next year.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday by Cole's widow, Claudia Cole, of Clutts, is seeking more than $65 million from the Virginia companies that oversee the Cloverlick mine. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in London, accuses the defendants of “careless, reckless, malicious and negligent acts” in regards to Russell Cole's August 2005 death at Stillhouse Mine No. 1.

The lawsuit alleges that Black Mountain Resources LLC, Harlan Resources LLC, Cumberland Land Corp. and Cumberland Resources Corp. - all of which provide management, engineering and safety services to Stillhouse Mining LLC - failed “to ensure that Stillhouse Mining LLC complies with all mining and safety laws and regulations.”

Claudia Cole, who is pushing for tougher legislation to improve communication at mine sites, said on Friday that she is also optimistic that she and her family will be granted a trial...

An investigation by the state Office of Mine Safety and Licensing found inadequate coordination and communication from the Stillhouse mine management, along with improper training about the method of pillar extraction and the contents of the approved roof control pillar plan. The state released a report on the investigation in December 2005.

Attorney Tony Oppegard, who also represented families during hearings into the Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1 explosion in Holmes Mill, said the companies listed in Claudia Cole's complaint have 30 days to respond...

“The highest priority has to be Claudia's family. She (Claudia) is the sole means of support now. This is to help them financially so she can take care of her children,” Oppegard said. “No amount of money could replace her husband. Everyone knows that. But this is how our judicial system works.”

Oppegard said Russell Cole and Wilder essentially “walked into a death trap” at Stillhouse Mining LLC due to the lack of communication and training....

Ross Kegan, vice president of operations at Black Mountain Resources LLC, said on Friday that his company has not seen the complaint...

Also, from the AP story on the lawsuit:

...Another miner, Brandon Wilder, 23, was killed in the collapse. Wilder's body was recovered about eight hours after the collapse, but two more rock falls hindered the search and injured two people.

The deaths prompted $360,000 in federal fines against Stillhouse Mining.

They also focused attention on so-called retreat mining, a practice that has been blamed for the deaths of at least 17 coal miners in the past seven years. The process requires the removal of coal pillars, which hold up the roof.

The proposed federal fines against Stillhouse Mining were "On Hold," as of today, according to MSHA's data retrieval system.

Health Focus: More Unintended Consequences

2006-11-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

Again, safety and health don't stop at the mine gate or at the boundaries of bureaucratic jurisdictions.

Don Hopey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently covered a story that, among other things, touched on unintended health consequences, for one particular couple, of mining in their community. Subsidence is not uncommon in these coal fields, but in this case the consequences reportedly included illness from toxic mold -- and anxiety and panic attacks.

SPRAGGS, Pa. -- On Thanksgiving Day 2000, Roy and Diane Brendel had to eat turkey and trimmings down the road at her brother's house while Consol Energy carved a 6-foot-thick slab of the Pittsburgh coal seam out from under their National Historic Register-listed home.

It was the first time in 30 years that the Brendels couldn't host the Thanksgiving meal in what was then the finest example of Spanish Revival architecture in southwestern Pennsylvania. A family tradition was broken, and now, six agonizing, frustrating and painful years later, they have to admit that their home is too.

Known as the Ernest Thralls House in honor of its builder, the sandstone and stucco structure in Greene County fell more than four feet in the subsidence that followed Consol's Blacksville No. 2 longwall mine under the Brendels' 133 rural green acres. As it fell, the 12-room dwelling twisted, corkscrewing into the ground like some slow-motion version of Dorothy's house dropped on Munchkinland.

"When we came back from my brother's six years ago I sat here in the night listening to my entire house crack apart," Mrs. Brendel, 60, a retired elementary school teacher, said recently as she stood outside the severely damaged and soon-to-be-bulldozed home. "It was the most horrendous thing I'd ever been through." ....

As plaster walls cracked open wide enough to insert a fist, as doors went cockeyed and jammed shut, as stairs pulled off of their anchoring walls and hardwood floors buckled and humped, as water pipes burst and the ceramic tile roof leaked, the Brendels vowed to fight to the bitter end to get their historic home repaired.

...Although the state Department of Environmental Protection finally ordered Consol to repair the house this past spring, those repairs never happened. Black mold had by then infested the house so pervasively and produced such an unhealthy atmosphere their doctor told them to get out.

A month later the Brendels reluctantly agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Consol...

"We thought when the mining company got the repair order from the DEP they'd do something," Mrs. Brendel said. "When they failed to do anything yet again, I looked at Roy and he at me. Our eyes were watery red slits because of the mold. We had to move out." ...

The mold had its genesis, the Brendels say, when the home subsided and their basement sank below the local water table and flooded. It took Consol six months to install sump pumps. The mold permeated the house, inside the walls and under the floors. At the end it was so bad that this past summer they had to burn more than a third of their belongings -- furniture, clothes, books and bedding (and scrap most appliances) -- in the field out back.

"Our house is destroyed," said Mrs. Brendel, who felt so terrorized by the destruction of her home and the lack of help from state and federal agencies two years ago she suffered from anxiety and panic attacks." ...

Under terms of the settlement the Brendels received some money -- the amount hasn't been revealed because of a confidentiality agreement insisted on by Consol -- and the coal company bought the right to walk away without repairing the structure as required by the state's mining law, Act 54.

That still-controversial law, written in part by coal industry attorneys and quickly approved on the day before Christmas 1994, allowed coal companies to dig under homes and other structures built before 1966, provided the property owner was compensated for subsidence damage and water loss. Before 1994, coal companies had to leave pillars of coal to support such homes...

The law enables Consol and other coal companies to mine the rich Pittsburgh coal seam using longwall techniques. That full extraction method, used in seven massive mines in southwestern Pennsylvania, removes coal in horizontal "panels" 800 to 1,500 feet wide and two to three miles long, causing immediate subsidence on the surface...

Bethel Park-based Consol Energy, which had sued the Brendels, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Keeper of the National Historic Register in U.S. District Court to remove the Thralls House from the Register of Historic Places, confirmed that the terms of the settlement are "confidential," but declined any substantive comment on what happened to the house. The settlement ended that court case...

Mr. Brendel said they plan to raze their historic home early next spring and then break ground in the field behind their old house ... The new home will be built on stilts, like a beach house, in an effort to mitigate any future subsidence.

For now, they've moved into a new 30-foot trailer set up on a cracked macadam basketball court just behind the old house and surrounded by insulating hay bales for the winter. Though they're not looking forward to winter in the trailer, both say they are relieved that the battle over the house is done.

Hopey reports a comment by the couple's attorney that it was difficult to see how the mining company in this case came out ahead in the long run. If reputation has value, the company certainly seems to have lost some.

Poland: It's Over

2006-11-23T08:53:00.000-05:00

While the U.S. celebrates its national day of thanksgiving, Poland has announced a national day of mourning for 23 coal miners killed Tuesday in an explosion, in fact three days according to Reuters:

...President Lech Kaczynski, who visited the coal mine during the rescue operations, said three days of national mourning would start immediately...

"We went looking for our living colleagues, who worked here with us, but from the start our hope of rescuing anyone alive were almost non-existent," rescue team leader Jan Gaura told reporters and families of the dead gathered outside the pit.

"With an explosion like this of methane I don't think they had a chance," he said, his voice breaking, rain drizzling down his dust-blackened shirt...

Kaczynski told reporters there would be a public inquiry into the cause of the disaster and said there were signs some of the miners were inexperienced and insufficiently qualified.

The spokesman for Polish state coal company Kompania Weglowa, Zbigniew Madej, said the bodies of all 23 had been found. "Everything suggests they died at the moment of the explosion," he said.

...Doctors and psychologists helped the waiting families into cars to be driven home. Michal Swierszcz, one of a team of doctors caring for the bereaved, said it would take relatives a long time to appreciate fully the scale of their loss.

"The real pain will come only in a few days time when they realize their homes are bare, that their father, brother, husband is gone, that the family is no longer whole," Swierszcz told Reuters...

I hope that the other mine employees and the rescue workers also get some help.

More details from Bloomberg:

...The final body was found at 6:30 a.m. local time, TVN 24 reported, citing unnamed rescuers.

The accident more than doubled the number of casualties in Polish mines, which have claimed 46 lives this year, up from 21 a year ago, according to data from the country's Mining Office.

Polish mines employ more people than any other industry in the country, and the number of fatal accidents is increasing. Mine operators, mainly controlled by the state, have been strapped for investment since the fall of communism in 1989 and last year thousands of miners marched in protests against planned job cuts.

...The temperature at the blast site was about 1,500 degrees after the explosion.

Heartbreaking, and Too Familiar To Us Here

2006-11-22T11:53:00.001-05:00

The developing news from Poland is bad. Rescue efforts for 15 coal miners trapped yesterday in an explosion have been hampered by heat and methane gas, and reports say that hopes are fading. Another 7 miners, who did not make it, already have been recovered. The Irish Times has confirmed an eighth found dead.

The German newspaper, Der Spiegel:

Up to 70 rescuers raced into the tunnel after the blast and, using heavy digging and cutting equipment, spent the night trying to clear nearly 500 meters of rubble to reach the trapped men. The temperature in the shaft is about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and rescuers were only able to stay underground for about half an hour before coming back up for air.

Reuters news service:

Officials said there was still a high risk of another explosion and the concentration of gas was rising. Polish television reported rescue work might resume at 1700 GMT.

"It is absolutely impossible to continue rescue work underground right now," Poland's president Lech Kaczynski told a news conference after visiting the site.
"Even though we should never lose hope, I will not hide the fact that the situation is very, very grim."

Officials said the blast appeared to have damaged an underground water pump, flooding the area and leaving little hope that anybody could still be found alive.
Family members waited patiently at the pit head for news of the missing men and were offered counselling by local doctors.

"I was once a miner myself. When I heard the news, my first thought was that my son is dead," Michal Wasowski, 55, whose son is among the missing.

"A methane explosion is one of the most horrible things that can happen underground and this time it happened to my son."

Der Spiegel provides more background:

The mine shaft where the blast occurred had been abandoned in March because the levels of gas made it too dangerous to work there. However, equipment worth €17 million had been left behind. Pawlaszek said the work was done under increased security and under the supervision of specialists in detecting gas.

Poland's labour unions have said that there has been a lack of investment and massive layoffs have resulted in falling safety standards at the nation's mines. More than 80 miners have died in the country since 2003. Opened in 1957 the Halemba pit is one of the country's oldest mines. A previous gas explosion there in 1990 killed 19 miners and injured 20, and in 1991 a cave-in killed another five.

And the Irish Times adds:

Poland's state-run mining industry, built up before the fall of communism in 1989 but starved of investment for years, has seen hundreds of deaths over the last few decades and its safety record has been among the worst in Europe.

The eight deaths in yesterday's blast brings the toll in explosions in Polish mines this year to 28.

Over the holiday, please spare a thought for these families, so very like our own. And in the words of the ancient poet Sophocles (from memory, the play Antigone, as freely translated by Dudley Fitts and Duncan Fizgerald):

"..think a word of love
For one whose paths turn under the dark earth
Where there are no more tears."

Emergency In Poland

2006-11-21T19:20:00.000-05:00

Just now, from Reuters:

...A gas explosion killed at least eight miners and trapped around 15 others underground in a deep coal mine in southern Poland on Tuesday, officials said.

A major rescue effort was under way in the town of Ruda Slaska, around 300 km (190 miles) southwest of the capital, Warsaw.

A spokesman for the state-run Polish Coal Company said it was impossible to say whether rescuers would be able to reach the rest of the men who were trapped underground after a large explosion, probably caused by methane, at around 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT).

"Four bodies have already been recovered and we have at least another four to bring out from under the rubble," coal company spokesman Zbigniew Madej told Reuters. "We fear the worst for the others," he added.

Officials said all the miners were equipped with personal breathing apparatus and were trained to cope with accidents, but even with this training it was not clear how long they could hold out without help from outside.

The temperature in the deep mine shaft was around 40 degrees Celsius, he said. "The conditions down there are extreme," Madej said. "It is hell."...

...The mine...lies at the heart of Silesia's industrial belt and has seen several disasters in the past...

...Families of the trapped miners gathered at the mine as news of the blast spread. Officials read out all names of the trapped people to the crowd. "Me and my son we are waiting for my husband," said Barbara Luczakiewicz, the wife of one of the trapped men. "We hope he will get out of there. I am very scared but I haven't lost hope."...

Drugs and Miner Safety in Ky.

2006-11-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

Kentucky not long ago established the first-ever, so far as I know, government-administered drug testing program for miners. Yesterday, Ralph Dunlop of the Courier-Journal had a story about the realities of administering that program.

Under a law that took effect July 12, miners who test positive for drugs, or who refuse to submit to a test, are reported to the state and lose their mining privileges unless they agree to enter an employee-assistance program. Otherwise, they remain suspended until they successfully appeal for reinstatement.

As of late last week, 123 miners -- most from Eastern Kentucky -- had been suspended for failed or refused tests. Of the 66 who had appealed their suspensions, 53 have had their certificates restored. Most miners reinstated so far tested positive for cocaine, marijuana or a narcotic painkiller not prescribed to them.

But state officials are permitting miners to return to work without first investigating to determine whether they have criminal records related to drugs or alcohol, or showed signs of substance abuse at previous jobs.....

Asked how confident she is that the state is not sending drug-impaired miners back to work, Jane Rice Williams, chairwoman of the Kentucky Mining Board, replied: "I have no idea. That's part of the problem."

Other members of the seven-member board, which is responsible for restoring miners' suspended certifications, also have expressed concern about discerning the truth from the limited information they receive about cases.

Williams has abstained from most board votes because, she said, she feels so uninformed about the drug cases.

When state officials told the board Thursday that the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet lacks the necessary time and money to fully investigate miners' backgrounds, and that miners might find burdensome the expense of submitting to a substance-abuse evaluation, board member Tim Miller, a union representative from Western Kentucky, replied: "If we can save one life, it's worth it."

Today, the paper followed up with an editorial:

...The widely applauded new drug testing program for coal miners sounds very much like a joke. Months after the initiative was approved by the General Assembly, the Kentucky Mining Board and the state Mine Safety Review Commission can't even seem to agree on who is supposed to be doing what......

Meanwhile, miners who have failed or refused their drug tests are being sent back to work, without the kind of state investigations that would show whether they have criminal records related to drug and/or alcohol use, or whether previous employers saw signs of substance abuse.

Once reinstated, miners are allowed to choose the time and place where they will be checked for drug use, as opposed to facing random tests. That virtually ensures they will show up clean for their examinations, no matter how drug-ridden their usual behavior.

Anonymous Wrote...

2006-11-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

Concerning an earlier post: "Three Get Prison Time for Lying To MSHA":

I saw that truck. It was death trap. The mine worked 24 hours a day, and the truck didn't have working headlamps. The air brakes leaked and would lose pressure after only a few seconds. The driver's side door didn't even have latch, let alone a lock. The door was "fixed" by bolting on a screen door sliding latch to keep the door shut. That latch was broken at the time of the accident. Drivers had to hold the door shut with one hand, and drive and shift with the other.

They got that kid killed for greed. It's a disappointment that they got off so light.

If your comment doesn't show up under "COMMENTS" immediately, don't worry. I'm "moderating"" comments right now, which is first of all to make sure that I don't miss seeing them myself, and second to keep out spam. Would you believe there are people who spam all sorts of blogs with "comments" that consist of ads for their own products, etc? I read, then it gets posted, unless it's something clearly out of bounds.

Unintended Consequences Can Go On and On

2006-11-19T12:20:00.000-05:00

The L.A. Times has an extraordinarily long and thoughtful piece about the unintended health consequences of uranium mining that continue today, even though mines are long closed. Again, mine safety and health issues do not always stop at the mine gate. They can impact whole communities profoundly. The focus here is the Navajo reservation.

From 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons of uranium ore were chiseled and blasted from the mountains and plains. The mines provided uranium for the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to develop an atomic bomb, and for the weapons stockpile built up during the arms race with the Soviet Union.

Private companies operated the mines, but the U.S. government was the sole customer. The boom lasted through the early '60s. As the Cold War threat gradually diminished over the next two decades, more than 1,000 mines and four processing mills on tribal land shut down.

The companies often left behind radioactive waste piles and open tunnels and pits. Few bothered to fence the properties or post warning signs. Federal inspectors seldom intervened.

Over the decades, Navajos inhaled radioactive dust from the waste piles, borne aloft by fierce desert winds.

They drank contaminated water from abandoned pit mines that filled with rain. They watered their herds there, then butchered the animals and ate the meat.

Their children dug caves in piles of mill tailings and played in the spent mines...

In every corner of the reservation, sandy mill tailings and chunks of ore, squared off nicely by blasting, were left unattended at old mines and mills, free for the taking. They were fashioned into bread ovens, cisterns, foundations, fireplaces, floors and walls.

Navajo families occupied radioactive dwellings for decades, unaware of the risks...

Early on, federal scientists knew that mine workers were at heightened risk for developing lung cancer and other serious respiratory diseases in 15 or 20 years. Many did, and eventually their plight drew wide attention. In 1990, Congress offered the former miners an apology and compensation of up to $150,000 each.

But pervasive environmental hazards remained.

Now, the article relates, people on the reservation are still suffering high rates of cancer. The whole article speaks for itself and is well worth reading.

Not Letting the Grass Grow....

2006-11-18T07:38:00.000-05:00

...the White House has again submitted the nomination of Richard M. Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, for -- I believe -- the third time.

As everyone knows, Mr. Stickler recently was installed at MSHA as a recess appointee, and before that, served for some time at the Department of Labor on a contract basis.

Jordan Barab of Confined Space pointed out this latest development.

Mine Safety Miscellany

2006-11-17T15:00:00.000-05:00

MSHA is suggesting solar-powered lights for haul road illumination. Details here.

New lighting systems utilizing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) powered by solar cells provide innovative applications for haul road safety lighting. The low power drain of an LED makes solar power more practical than in the past. Installation requires no wiring. The placement of solar-powered LEDs for lighting a busy intersection, sharp curve, foggy area, narrow passage or any place of safety concern, is only limited by the ability of the solar cell to receive ample charge from sunlight.

There's somthing neat about the idea that even coal mines might have a good use for solar power.

Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette recently was on NPR, talking about mine safety. If there is anyone who hasn't yet heard it,you can listen here.

Not chargeable to the mining industry, tranportation accidents are still of major interest to mining communities. Today, a freight train hit a coal truck in West Virinia, reports WOWK TV. The driver fortunately escaped injury.

The Courier-Journal recently had an editorial:

Publicists for the Bush administration's new director of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, Richard Stickler, press the case that criticism of his controversial appointment is unjustified. They say he should be given a chance to use powerful enforcement tools that the agency hasn't used in the past, which allow for closures at mines that knowingly fail to comply with federal regulations.
Fine. But Mr. Stickler and everybody else entrusted with improving coal safety must remember that dead miners have run out of chances.

A fatal injury from a week back. This, unfortunately, was # 45 for the coal industry this year.

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau
KAYENTA — Employees of Peabody Western Coal Co. are mourning the loss of a fellow worker at the Kayenta Mine....

The 52-year-old electrician died around 9 p.m. Sunday after receiving an electrical shock while working to restore power to a dragline, [Peabody spokeswoman Beth] Sutton said.

"We express our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathy to the family."

The electrician was believed to be working on a dragline trailing cable, which powers the dragline, when the accident occurred.

..."Traditionally, Kayenta Mine's safety record has been better than the industry average, with employees achieving about one-third the industry incident rate for U.S. surface mines," Sutton said.

Cindy Skryzicki in the Washington Post may have hinted at oversight for MSHA by the new Congress.

One notable change in direction is expected from Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat and the incoming head of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where he has been the ranking minority member for six years.

"It's been clear there has been no oversight; not even mildly aggressive oversight," said Miller, whose panel oversees regulatory policy at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration....

Miller said in an interview that he doesn't have a lengthy agenda but that he wants to examine the value of voluntary compliance programs and self-reporting of OSHA violations by employers.

Labor unions are expected to get some of their issues back on the agenda, especially because Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, will head the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Soapbox Moment

2006-11-16T00:49:00.000-05:00

At a legal conference in Washington, D.C., today, there were some quite harsh things said about the media in relation to mine disasters.

Since I’ve worked both sides of the aisle, government and journalism, I’ve seen how a mine disaster changes lives – everyone’s. I’ve seen, and experienced, the emotional agony on all sides. I’ve experienced things that caused me to feel quite cynical, and I’ve found that cynicism is not always justified and can sometimes, with care, be overcome.

So I am putting on my old “public affairs” hat to set out some personal opinion, which goes for any organization involved with a mine emergency – government, industry, miners’ representatives, law firms, whatever. For some, this is preaching to the choir, of course. But I do think that if more people understood some things better, it would benefit the whole mining community.

First off: If you start out with a cynical and adversarial attitude to the media, the media tend to respond in kind.

Try to forget the paparazzi that chased Lady Diana into the fatal tunnel; they are not covering mine safety.

Some media may start out with a cynical and adversarial attitude to you, or just some prejudices and preconceptions. But by showing good faith – honestly, calmly and with patience – you really can sometimes modify that stance during the course of an emergency or investigation. Not always, to be sure; that is one of the frustrations of the profession, but at least half the time. I’ve seen it happen.

All writing teachers advise writers, “Show, not tell.” It’s the same with communications. Don’t just assert good faith. Demonstrate it. Your acts – and your organization’s acts -- are as important as your statements in communicating who you are.

Reporters by and large do not set out to hurt survivors of accidents. Reporters and editors are individuals, of course, and some are a good deal less than sensitive. The more local they are, sometimes the greater comprehension and sensitivity for members of the community, which is natural. I have seen a local TV reporter make a point to turn his camera around, facing away from family members as they left a mine site. But believe it or not, a lot of major media reporters also can be quite human when treated as such.

If they can’t get facts from an official source, preferably more than one source, then reporters are forced to turn to people on the sidelines, who do not know the whole situation, who may only know rumors, who may be shell-shocked and hurting and upset. Telling an editor, “Sorry, no one will talk to me,” just isn’t an option.

Stonewalling leads people to conclude there is something to hide. Then they can easily think you are not in good faith. Stonewalling appears to say something about you, even when you are not saying anything.

You don’t have to wait for the media to come to you with questions, either. If you have something to communicate, you can reach out.

In the course of an emergency, or investigation, keep up a flow of meaningful information over time. As public relations people say, “Feed the ‘beast.’” The beast may turn out to be less than beastly. Yes, you can do this without compromising an investigation.

Attorneys are good communicators but tend to be consumed with strictly legal issues during and after an emergency. Other officials may be a better choice to take the lead in managing the media. A professional communicator can be a good choice, preferably one who knows a fair amount about mining, since this is such as specialized field.

Make sure your professional communicator is really part of your team, really knows what’s going on, and has at least some authority to make on-the-spot judgment calls. When this person is just a mouthpiece and buffer who has to play Mother-May-I with higher authority over every little detail, people can tell. It’s not as bad as stonewalling, but it can contribute to cynicism. Teaming a professional communicator with a subject matter expert or official can work very well.

The public these days is quite sophisticated about “spin.” When making certain decisions, the high road is to consider what that decision is likely to say about you, in the eyes of the public, rather than expecting the public relations department to “spin” whatever decision is made. Think about the Tylenol case.

Finally, news media attention is needed. None of us would really be happy if it went away. For instance, how would you like it, if there was a major emergency or other public issue in your community, and you were told not to ask questions? If information came only from the government and organizations with a vested interest? If there were no alternate viewpoints available? The media fill a vital function, and as part of their job, they sometimes have to cross-check "official" stories and exercise a certain level of skepticism. Besides the "who, what, when, and where," they probe in order to fulfill people's natural concern with "how" and "why."

They don't always do it well. Media coverage, like other human endeavors, is rarely perfect. Most people at times feel one outlet or another is unfair. And sometimes they are right. But if so, it makes more sense to keep dialogue open, when possible, and try to improve things, rather than write off the whole endeavor.

Okay, climbing off the soapbox now.

International Update

2006-11-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

This morning brought a fresh crop of international news:

China

Another coal mine explosion this morning.

Coal mine blast kills 24 miners in northern China
2006/11/13
BEIJING (AP)

At least 24 miners were killed and 10 others trapped Monday by an explosion in a coal mine in northern China, state media reported, the latest in a string of fatal incidents to hit the country's dangerous mining industry....

The mine was operating illegally in defiance of a government order issued in September to cease production after its safety license expired, CCTV said.

A man who answered the phone at the administrative office of Lingshi's county government said he was "unclear" about the incident and refused to take further questions. The Nanshan mine was not listed in the local telephone directory.

Also Monday, the death toll in another coal mine explosion in the same province climbed by 12 to 35, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Twelve more miners were still missing from the Nov. 5 gas blast at the Jiaojiazhai mine in Xinzhou

At the same time we learn a Chinese mine safety official has been sentenced to prison for taking bribes:

A former official of the Shanxi Provincial Coal Mine Safety Supervision Administration has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars for taking huge bribes and possessing huge mount of property with unproven sources, court source said Sunday....

The court found that Diao Min, former chief of the technology and equipment department of the provincial coal mine safety supervision administration, had took bribes totaling 1.01 million yuan (about 126,000 U.S. dollars) plus 8,000 U.S. dollars by taking advantage of his post between 2001 and 2004.

The court found that Diao took the money to help bribers to pass safety examinations and assessment.

India

A major coal mine roof fall yesterday has killed several and left an uncertain number of miners trapped.

KOTHAGUDEM: Four persons, including an undermanager, were killed as the roof of...one of the oldest underground mines of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), caved in near Kothagudem at 8.50 a.m. on Sunday. A foreign national and a mining engineer of a private company, both working on new machinery introduced in the mine, were rescued seven hours after the incident.

No regular miner was on duty at the time of the accident as it was a weekly day off for the coal workers of the project. The roof fall occurred when `continuous miner', the machine provided by `Joy Mining', was about to resume its operations in the day. Six persons, including Thomas N. Kosi (South African national), shuttle car operator of the machine, and Pratap Kumar Sharma, both representing the private company, were inside the mine. They were heading for the 32 dip area when a huge block of the coal seam came down sealing their exit....

Coal workers and union leaders rushed to the spot, but failed to reach the workers trapped in the debris about 1.1 km away from the pithead. The rescue teams reached the spot promptly but it took more than four hours for them to clear their way. P. Sudheerbabu, undermanager, N. Ramji, 47, overman, and K. Ramachander, 37, and P. Buchaiah, 38, both general mazdoors - all from SCCL -- died on the spot. Two bodies could be taken out from the mine. A team of officials from the Safety Department and the company directors were monitoring the salvage operations. The accident was viewed as the worst-ever in Kothagudem area, which was relatively free from such incidents during the past one-and-a half decade....

Another story has six dead:

Six people were killed and many trapped after the roof of a coal mine in south India's Andhra Pradesh caved in Sunday, Indo-Asian News Service reported.

The dead included an employee of an Australian company responsible for maintenance works, according to state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd....

The company has launched rescue operations as hundreds of employees gathered outside.

No information has been available for exactly how many miners being trapped underground.

International Roundup

2006-11-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

Australia

A rock fall in Tasmania that killed one miner and trapped two others for 14 days this April at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine is still under investigation. The head of the Australian Workers Union expressed confidence in the investigation, but was not sure if it's safe for the mine to re-open.

The miners, Todd Russell and Brant Webb, recently addressed an AWU conference and have written a book about their experience.

Meanwhile, the mininster of mines for Queensland held special safety meetings after the Moranbah North coal mine had eight accidents in 3 months.

Coal mine owner Anglo says work practices at the troubled Moranbah North Mine stand up to scrutiny against any in the world....

There have been four roof collapses...and two miners seriously hurt in accidents since August.

Botswana

The 8th European Development fund is buying new safety equipment to help extend the life of the "threatened" BCL Mine. In all, 3,335 AfroxPac 35’s are being bought. was awarded to Afrox’s safety self-rescue division.

The manufacturer's description of the AfroxPac 35 is here. Apparently it suppplies 35 minutes of oxygen. In African mines, emphasis often is on getting miners safely to refuge areas underground.

The European Development Fund is a European Community venture.

China

It is hard to keep up with the accidents in China. Reuters has a recent summary:

BEIJING, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Accidents at two Chinese coal mines have killed at least seven workers as the death toll from a gas explosion at a third mine a week ago rose to 23, the official Xinhua news agency said.

In the latest disaster to hit the coal-dependent nation, two miners were killed on Friday after the wagon in which they were travelling broke free from a steel cord in the Xinchun mine in Jilin province in the northeast, Xinhua said.

The news came as the toll from an explosion on Wednesday at the privately owned Xinpo mine in the central province of Hunan rose to five, with at least 12 still unaccounted for, it said. Both the chief and deputy head of that mine had fled the scene.

Meanwhile, hopes had all but faded for 24 workers missing at the mine in the northern province of Shanxi, where Xinhua said 23 miners were now known to have died in a gas blast a week ago.....

Accidents in China's coal mines killed 345 miners in October, nearly 50 percent more than in the previous month, despite years of government pledges to improve standards.

Between January and October, around 3,630 Chinese miners died in more than 2,000 accidents.

More:

BEIJING: Ten miners were killed in northern China after a coal mine was flooded, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

The mishap occurred Tuesday at an illegal mine in Shanxi's provincial capital of Taiyuan, Xinhua said, citing an unnamed spokesman with the Taiyuan municipal bureau.
Rescuers have recovered all 10 bodies, the agency said.

Xinhua did not say what caused the flood. Police were searching for the owner of the mine.

And finally, the enforcement outcome from a previous incident:

A coal mine in southwest China's Guizhou province has been fined 2.65 million yuan (about 330,000 U.S. dollars) following a fatal gas leak that killed 15 miners in March, according to the local coal mine safety watchdog on Wednesday.

Wulunshan colliery, which was being built when the tragedy occurred, was immediately ordered to cease construction and ordered to take measures to improve safety in the coal mine...

The gas leak occurred at 10 p.m. March 26 when 104 miners were carrying out construction work underground. The release of a sudden burst of gas killed 15 workers. Eighty-nine miners managed to escape.

Investigations showed that Wulunshan Coal Industry Co. Ltd. had failed to properly study the complicated geological conditions in the area and had not taken efficient measures to prevent a gas leak.

Company management was inadequate and safety measures were not strictly implemented, according to investigations.

The investigation also revealed that construction of the coal mine had begun without approval from higher authorities, and that managers had falsified files of miners working underground. Miners had received no training in how to prevent and escape gas leaks, according to investigators.

Qin Lerao, chairman of the board of directors and general manager of the company, received a serious warning from the Party and was fined 30,000 yuan (3,750 U.S. dollars).

Ten other company managers received Party warnings, administrative sanctions, demotions or fines or were dismissed....

South Africa

Officials are discussing more measures to curb accidents.

SAFETY programmes in the country’s mines were not enough to prevent disasters, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told Parliament’s minerals and energy committee yesterday

“What is required is an early warning sign technology that will make it possible for these accidents to be predicted,” she said.

While efforts were being made to develop this, the task of protecting lives was not easy, she said. “In the absence of such a technology, fatal accidents won’t disappear in our mines.”

However, government did not have the option of closing down “unsafe” mines since that would lead to massive job losses.

Sonjica said her department was working with the industry to find a solution to the safety problem. “I think we also need to admit that by its very nature this is a dangerous environment.”

African National Congress MP Nomvula Mathibela said the industry’s safety record and the recent increase in fatal mine accidents were among factors discouraging more women from working in the industry.

“Some of the mines in Carletonville are more than 3km deep, and they are still digging deeper. There are so many accidents in our mines and something needs to be done to prevent people from dying,” the MP said.

Her comments come a fortnight after the death of five miners trapped underground at AngloGold Ashanti’s Tau Tona mine near Carletonville.

Second Report on Aracoma Mine Fire Disaster

2006-11-12T14:52:00.000-05:00

West Virginia recently released a second report on the Aracoma fire that killed two this January. This one's by Davitt McAteer. The full picture is coming together as more details make their way out.

I haven't yet had a chance to read the new report thoroughly, so take a look at the extended commentary on Jordan Barab's Confined Space, here.

Noteworthy news coverage includes an in-depth Charleston Gazette-Mail piece today.

And this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Future Minority Leader Married to MSHA's Boss

2006-11-12T13:56:00.000-05:00

Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao's husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, is now poised to become the Republican Minority Leader, AP reports.

Chao, of course, oversees both MSHA and OSHA.

According to the wire service,

McConnell was best known until recently for blocking new limits on campaign donations, an effort that gained him a reputation as Darth Vader to his rivals. That success ended in 2002 when Congress passed a campaign finance bill.

John Cheves had a long article last month in the Lexington Herald-Leader on the working partnership between McConnell and Chao.

He revisited a notorious incident in which, it is claimed, a prominent mine operator tried to intimidate MSHA officials by trumpeting his relationship with McConnell.

"Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and the last I checked, he was sleeping with your boss," according to notes of the meeting. "They," Murray added, pointing at two MSHA men, "are gone."

The article noted:

Murray, a large man with a fierce temper, is a huge donor to Republican senators. McConnell, R-Ky., rose through the ranks by raising money for those senators.

However,

Murray, in a recent interview, denied that he referred to McConnell "sleeping with" Chao.....

"After what he apparently said about me, he wouldn't make my list [of the five finest men]," McConnell said....

Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy, acknowledged in a recent interview that he loudly complained about MSHA manager Thompson at the meeting. Thompson harassed his mines for no reason and even shut down operations in one for hours, he said.
He said it's possible he mentioned his friend McConnell. His company's political-action committee has given about $360,000 in campaign donations since 2000, nearly all to Republicans, including McConnell. Murray personally has given about $100,000.
"I have no idea why I would have brought up Sen. McConnell, but I can tell you I have a tremendous respect for what he does," Murray said. Regarding Thompson's transfer, Murray added: "I said he should be removed. But they didn't do it because I said so"....

After the Murray incident was reported in various publications, Thompson said he was angry that his name had been released, and scared that McConnell would be mad at him. So, he said, he sent a polite letter this year to McConnell to make it clear that he didn't blame the senator or his wife for his problems. He has never been given a reason for his transfer, he said.

Apart from that incident,

Some MSHA officials talk of being pressured to go soft even when they uncover serious problems.

In April, MSHA inspector Danny Woods told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that colleagues wanted to shut down part of a Massey coal mine in West Virginia in January because spilled coal and dust had accumulated along a belt line, raising the risk of a fire. The request was denied. Woods said inspectors were told "to back off and let them run coal, that there was too much demand for coal."

Days later, on Jan. 19, a fire in that part of the mine killed two miners. MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere recently said MSHA is investigating Woods' allegation, so she cannot discuss it.

McConnell apparently has avoided direct involvement.

McConnell, a longtime advocate of tax breaks for mine owners, has had relatively little to say about miners, although he represents thousands. The United Mine Workers of America said they count a number of Republican and Democratic senators as champions of miners, willing to tour mines and promote safety legislation. But not McConnell, the union said.

"He's not done anything to help us with mine safety," said Bill Banig, the union's legislative director. "It does seem odd, given the state that he represents."
Law, the deputy labor secretary, said Chao's Labor Department has markedly improved enforcement on mine safety since 2001.

Three Get Prison Time for Lying to MSHA

2006-11-11T00:35:00.000-05:00

Three officials of a small auger coal mine in Illinois got prison sentences for lying to MSHA investigators. This is not routine; going to prison over mine safety is not unknown, but is rare. We've mainly seen similar sentences in a few major disasters and in systematic mine safety and health related frauds.

BENTON, Ill. - A man convicted along with his son of lying to government investigators about a 2003 death at a southern Illinois coal mine was ordered Thursday to spend three years in federal prison and pay $10,000 in fines. Lester Erb Jr., 49, formerly of Harrisburg, also was sentenced to two years of supervised release.

In June, a U.S District Court jury convicted Erb and his son, Lester Erb III, 29, of lying to U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators after the death of Adam Scott at a surface mine in Gallatin County. A federal judge sentenced Lester Erb III in September to three months in prison, $500 in fines and two years of supervised release.....

Authorities say Adam Scott, 20, was driving a Midwest Auger dump truck loaded with 14 tons of coal up a steep slope at the mine when the vehicle either lost traction or stalled and began rolling backward. Scott apparently tried to jump for safety from the vehicle but was killed when the truck overturned onto him, pinning him and burying him under the payload of black ore.

Investigators later blamed the accident on the truck's unsafe operating condition, ruling that the truck's brakes were incapable of stopping the loaded truck on the grade. Those investigators also said a hole in the brake air line was patched with electrical tape....

Another defendant, Larry Bunner, of Cannelton, Ind., was sentenced in April to six months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for lying to investigators of Scott's death.

MSHA cited three (d) violations in its investigation, all related to the condition of the truck, which also had no seat belt. The agency proposed civil penalties totaling $93,000, which were under appeal.

Mine operator Midwest Auger Co. would auger a highwall after another mine had already got all the coal they could out of it by normal strip mining, according to MSHA's investigation report. The company had worked the site for about a year and had two operations at the time of the accident, both now abandoned.

What the Election May Mean for MSHA

2006-11-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

Late yesterday AP finally reported that Jim Webb defeated George Allen here in Virginia. By then, Webb's lead as reflected on the state's official website had been over 7,300 votes and essentially stable all day long. For some reason Sen. Allen still had not "decided to end the campaign" according to a staffer speaking anonymously. However, everyone seems to be moving on.

Results for miners: Assistant Secretary for MSHA Richard M. Stickler, recently installed by recess appointment despite Senatorial and other objections, now has a little over a year to prove himself a fair and effective administrator before that appointment expires.

If he can do that, he might possibly earn reappointment for another year with the consent of the Democratic Senate. There will greater pressure to accomodate a variety of views, especially those of labor.

By the way, the coalfield counties of Dickenson and Buchanan went for Webb, as well as the city of Norton. When UMWA President Cecil Roberts campaigned for Jim Webb there there days ago, the Virginian- Pilot reported, the Buchanan County high school auditorium "shook like a revival tent."

A "Broader Look" At Death In the Coal Mines

2006-11-06T13:26:00.001-05:00

The Charleston Gazettte-Mail Sunday published the first in what it says will be a series of pieces taking "a broader look" at coal mine safety.

The Sunday Gazette-Mail wanted to take a broader look, to examine the daily dangers faced by the 79,000 coal miners who help provide more than half of the nation’s electricity.

Reporter Ken Ward Jr. had been covering mine safety on and off for much of his 15 years at the newspaper. And he had recently been awarded a six-month fellowship by the Alicia Patterson Foundation to study the coal industry.

Under the direction of City Editor Robert J. Byers, Ward narrowed the focus of his fellowship to a project on coal mine safety. This story, the first in a series of special reports, is the result of that work.

Comment: there are various valid ways to define the number of coal miners. I am not sure of the definition the Gazette has used. Under MSHA's law, generally, the simple fact of working at a mine site is what makes someone a miner. According to MSHA's website, the industry reported 116,436 coal mine site employees in 2005. MSHA's database includes independent contractor employees, who in some mines work right alongside regular employees, and in others provide specialized services.

MSHA's breakdown by work location is: underground mines, 49,495; surface mines, 45,270; coal preparation plants, 15,397; mine-site offices, 5,516; independent equipment shops and yards (typically serving several mines), 858.

MSHA's database also documents the increase in coal mine employment, which apparently hit bottom in 2003 and has risen since.

At about 6:30 a.m. Jan. 2, an explosion ripped through the Sago Mine, a small underground operation in Upshur County, W.Va. One miner was killed by the blast, and 11 others suffocated before rescuers could reach them 40 hours later.

Two weeks later, two miners died in a fire at Massey Energy’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County, W.Va.

On May 20, five miners died in an explosion at the Darby Mine in Eastern Kentucky, making 2006 the first time in two decades that there have been two mine disasters in the same year.

Outraged lawmakers gave fiery speeches. They demanded tougher enforcement and regulatory reforms. Reporters from New York and television crews from Washington poured into coal country to interview grieving widows and write exposés on mine disasters.

No one seemed to notice a larger pattern was continuing.

The paper rightly points out that the coal mine deaths occurring in ones and twos continue -- and are on the increase. Coal fatalities this year are up, even if for some reason a statistician were to discount completely the 19 deaths in the three high-profile disasters -- Sago, Aracoma and Kentucky Darby.

This weekend, two more coal miners were killed, bringing the national total to 45. As a result coal mine deaths this year are more than double last year's full-year total of 22, with almost 2 months of 2006 still to go.

The Gazette-Mail analysis found:

Mine operators were faulted for not performing — or incorrectly performing — required safety checks in nearly one-fourth of the mining deaths between 1996 and 2005. More than one-quarter of the fatal accidents involved mining equipment that operators had not maintained in safe working condition. Mine operators violated roof control, mine ventilation or other required safety plans in 21 percent of the coal-mining deaths examined. Mine managers did not train or provided inadequate training to miners in more than 20 percent of those accidents....

Agreement is just about universal that rule-breaking is a significant problem.

...“I believe most of the accidents that have occurred in my memory happened because the law and regulations were not followed,” [newly appointed MSHA director Richard Stickler said earlier this year.

The Gazette's aggregated findings about penalties also are interesting:

In the last 10 years, MSHA has fined coal operators more than $14 million for violations that contributed to miners’ deaths, according to a first-of-its-kind computer analysis by the Gazette-Mail.

Per violation, MSHA officials fined companies a median of $22,000, about one-third of the maximum allowed by law. For each miner killed, agency officials assessed a median fine of $4,250.

The maximum legal MSHA civil penalty for any single violation has been $60,000. Some fatalities involve multiple MSHA violations.

But fines are lowered or thrown out by judges. MSHA settles for less to avoid legal fights. Companies go belly up and don’t pay, or MSHA does not aggressively pursue payments. In some cases, appeals are still pending for deaths that occurred years ago.

Overall, companies have paid $3.4 million, about one-fourth of what MSHA has sought, according to the Gazette-Mail analysis.

In cases where fines were issued and are not under appeal, coal operators have paid a median fine per miner death of $6,200.

The Gazette piece also points at slowed action on promises at the state level:

...lawmakers unanimously approved [Governor] Manchin’s landmark plan to require rapid rescue response to mine emergencies, mandate electronic tracking of miner locations underground, and force coal companies to provide additional emergency oxygen underground. Other states and the federal government have followed with similar mine rescue initiatives.

But in the 10 months since Sago and Aracoma, Manchin has not acted on other promises or proposals to prevent mine accidents.

The governor has never introduced his promised legislation to ban the use of conveyor belt tunnels to bring fresh air into underground mines. Critics say the practice, legalized nationwide in 2004 by the Bush administration, helps spread fires, smoke and deadly gases....

In late July, the [state] mine safety office finalized a rule that reduces the amount of training miners must receive to be certified to perform electrical work in underground mines.

More to come, evidently. This doesn't fully reflect the piece, which includes a lot of detail about specific accidents and their impact on people's lives, for which you should really read the whole piece.

Meanwhile, I wish someone, someday would give this kind of intensive scrutiny to accidents in metal and nonmetal mines as well -- "metal and nonmetal" being mine-speak for gold mines, underground and surface stone quarries, gravel dredges, salt mines, sand pits, copper mines, gem mines, and dozens of other types, everything but coal. Every state in the union has some of these mines and - until the events of this year made the coal industry record much worse -- these miners were suffering virtually as many deaths as coal miners in recent years.

Metal and nonmetal miners remain invisible to most, in that there is no geographical concentration, no single labor organization or other advocate, to unify and highlight their story.

More Aracoma Details

2006-11-03T12:46:00.000-05:00

Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette has a comprehensive story this morning. Some highlights:

It’s not surprising that this happened, given the conditions in this mine,” said Tony Oppegard, a Kentucky mine safety expert who reviewed the state’s Aracoma report. “It was basically a recipe for disaster.”
Absolutely.

On top of the seven contributory citations issued to the company, sixteen individual Aracoma employees — mostly salaried mine managers — were also cited personally for “knowingly” violating a variety of safety rules. The violations included not performing required safety checks and removing air-flow control walls. State officials recommended that they be stripped of their mining licenses.
"Knowing and willful" is the key phrase for potential federal criminal charges. Reportedly the U.S. Attorney's ofice has already been already inquiring into that for some time.

Gov. Joe Manchin added that state inspections prior to the fire “did not fully and accurately capture the safety conditions present at this particular mine.”
It was not immediately clear if Manchin was referring to the fact that state inspectors did not perform required annual electrical inspections at Aracoma in 2004 and 2005, or to other oversights not previously made public by the state.

Some questions there for MSHA, too.

"They were on the wrong side of the chimney,” said Tim Bailey, a Charleston lawyer who represents miners in safety cases. “It sucked that smoky air right up to where these men were.”

This is so reminiscent of the 1984 Wilberg mine fire, where 27 died -- only in that case, the smoke got to the miners because a ventilation control called an "overcast" burned through.

In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, we get some more details, for instance:

When the fire erupted, miners used handheld fire extinguishers, and discovered that fire hose couplings did not match the water line fixtures, which turned out to have no water anyway.

Bryan Cabell, a mine belt examiner, told investigators he used up two or three handheld extinguishers, then attempted to attach a fire hose to a valve, but discovered the unmatched fittings.

"There was a fire hose lying beside a hard water line by the storage unit. I proceeded to hook it up. I could not get it to hook up onto the fire tap," Mr. Cabell testified. He just threw the fire hose down and opened the valve, "hoping I could direct it towards the fire, but there was no water in it."

A co-worker tried to locate a cutoff valve where the water supply apparently had been shut off, but was driven back by heavy smoke.

"The fire was burning out of control and no means was available to fight the fire," the report states.

Side note to readers: If something important is missing from this blog, please don't assume it's deliberate. The same goes for highlighting one outlet's version of a story or another. I'm trying to be a bit helpful and interesting, but sometimes can't keep up with what's out there, and can't realistically promise to be authoritative.

If something's really wrong or offensive, please holler at me: ncwaort5 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

OMHST Aracoma Report Out

2006-11-02T17:38:00.000-05:00

AP appears to be first out of the box with a story:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State investigators said missing walls and mismatched and faulty firefighting equipment contributed to the deaths of two miners in a fire last January.

The blaze, which broke out in a conveyor belt, filled the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine with smoke, and the miners died after becoming separated from their crew.

Investigators found the that fire started from the friction of a misaligned belt in a conveyor that carries coal out of the shaft.

The Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training found that the mine lacked "stoppings" - walls typically constructed of blocks to seal off parts of a mine and control air flow - and that their absence let smoke enter the main escape route.

Also, water lines for firehoses and sprinklers were shut off, and hoses could not be connected because the fittings did not match, the investigators said.

The agency issued 169 violation notices and recommended withdrawal or suspension of seven miners' certificates, the report said.

The Charleston Gazette was not far behind:

Massey's Aracoma Coal Co. subsidiary was cited for seven violations that state investigators said contributed to the fatal fire.

Those included:

| Allowing air to flow into the mine in the opposite direction from spelled out in approved ventilation plans, sending clean air away from the face where miners worked.

| Not maintaining fire hose equipment in good working condition, and not providing a water supply into the area of the conveyor belt where the fire occurred.

| Not keeping the mine's primary escapeway isolated from the rest of the mine. A missing piece of mine wall allowed smoke to enter the escapeway, forcing miners who were attempting to escape to find an alternate route. During this effort, Bragg and Hatfield became separated from the other miners.

| Not maintaining the mine's main conveyor belt in good working order, in that improperly installed components caused the belt to run out of alignment, creating friction that led to the fire.

| Not notifying the crew that Bragg and Hatfield worked on about the fire in a timely manner to allow them to quickly evacuate the mine.

In other words, it took multiple serious failures to cause this tragedy. These stories describe a devastating combination of safety protections to have been neglected all at at the same time.

Aracoma Report Coming Out After All

2006-11-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

West Virginia has corrected its misstep on the Aracoma coal mine fire report, the Charleston Gazette reports:

The report will be released this afternoon, after it is provided to families of the two miners and to Massey officials, said Ron Wooten, director of the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training.

“Our plan is to have it on the Web by about 2 p.m.,” Wooten said. The agency’s Web site is www.wvmine.org .

Good decision. More to come later:

Davitt McAteer, Manchin’s special mine safety investigator, has not yet completed his independent review of the Aracoma fire. Federal prosecutors are also continuing a criminal investigation, U.S. Attorney Chuck Miller said Wednesday.

And the MSHA report as well.

In a heartening development, the Montgomery, W.Va., Herald reports:

MONTGOMERY — Rep. Nick Rahall and others gathered here late last month with the hope that a year which began in mourning and tragedy for West Virginia coal miners and their families can end with optimism for a safer future.....

Rahall was in town to unveil the Mine Safety Technology Consortium, a key element of the Mine Safety Technology Innovation Capability and Regional Business Development Program. The project will have its headquarters in Montgomery....

The $4 million project is funded by a $2 million Economic Development Authority grant and $1 million in state funding. Private donations, including $200,000 from State Electric and $100,000 from Arch Coal, also helped bring the concept to fruition.

Take note of the private funding. Arch Coal deserves kudos for stepping up to the plate. In other countries like Australia and South Africa, mining companies regularly pool funds to support safety research. Here, it's rare -- in fact, this might be the first time a mining firm has done something like this.

Arch's news release:

...The Arch Coal Foundation today announced that it would donate a total of $100,000 over the next three years to Marshall University's new Mine Safety Technology Innovation Capability and Regional Business Development program.

"This program will help focus some of the country's best minds on identifying new technologies and practices for the next generation of coal mining safety," said Steven F. Leer, chairman and chief executive officer of Arch Coal, Inc. "As a long-standing supporter of mine safety initiatives, we're pleased to provide financial backing to the academic community to help discover and deploy cutting-edge technologies that will advance the coal industry and its safety practices."...

In other good news, 16 Chinese miners have dug their own way out after a landslide at the mine entrance trapped them inside, according to an Aussie media report:

Sixteen miners trapped for 14 hours in a northwestern China coal mine have dug themselves out, state press reported Thursday.

The miners were trapped in the Deshun coal mine near Lanzhou city, Gansu province, mid-morning Wednesday when 1.4 million cubic meters of mud slid down a mountain and blocked the mine entrance, Xinhua news agency said.

"We were frightened at the beginning, but we soon calmed down because we knew we were not far from the ground surface," the report quoted a miner surnamed Wang as saying.

"Later we heard the sound of excavators digging and that boosted our morale enormously."

The miners dug an eight-meter (26-foot) tunnel with shovels and other mining tools taking 14 hours to reach freedom, it said....

But unfortunately, at least 29 didn't make it out after an explosion, also in China, the International Herald Tribune reported:

The death toll in a coal mine explosion in western China rose by nine to 29 as rescuers found more bodies in the shaft, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Another 19 workers were injured in the blast, which tore through the Weijiadi mine Tuesday in Baiyin, a city in Gansu province, Xinhua said.

Some 71 workers were working underground at the time and 36 managed to escape, it said. Another six were rescued later, Xinhua said in a report late Tuesday....

Aracoma Report Not Coming Out After All

2006-11-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

Churning out the work, the state of West Virginia yesterday announced it would issue its report on the Aracoma mine fire tomorrow. But I just got an e-mail -- it's off.

The accident killed two on January 19 and attracted national attention because it happened so soon after the Sago explosion. Preliminary information was that the fire started near a longwall conveyor belt drive. Miners Don Bragg and Ellery ("Elvis") Hatfield became separated from their group in heavy smoke during the evacuaton. Mine rescue teams recovered them on January 21.

According to the Charleston Daily Mail, a Republican politician immediately slammed the report's release prior to Election Day as "politically motivated."

"Anyone that doesn't see through that has a blindfold on," [Senate Minority Leader Vic] Sprouse said.

Massey Energy, which owns the Aracoma Mine, is headed by Don Blankenship, who has spent

$1,033,799 on "electioneering communications" between Sept. 11 and Oct. 27

the Daily Mail recently reported.

The Herald-Dispatch recently ran an in-depth appraisal of Mr. Blankenship's unusual role in state politics:

Among the unusual facets:

Pam Carden, a GOP contender for a 15th District seat in the House, has received no money from Blankenship, but has been listed as a candidate he supports in mailings, billboards and television ads -- support that has neither been solicited nor appreciated.

"I have a campaign manager, and he's pulling his hair out," she said.

And West Virginia University's Daily Athenium has more:

Blankenship's campaign works in West Virginia but might not be legal in other states, said West Virginia University political science professor Neil Berch.

"For example, I don't think he could do this in Maine, where they have limits not just on independent spending but on direct campaign contributions. There are a lot of states where if a certain amount is spent against you then you get some public funding," Berch said.

Further from the latest Daily Mail story:

"The coordination between government officials and incumbent politicians running for office next Tuesday is very apparent," Blankenship said. "The behavior of the state officials and the politicians threaten all businessmen and every West Virginian's freedom of speech."

Prs. Bush as we know, lately recess-appointed Richard Stickler, whose career included a stint at Massey Energy, to head the federal mine-safety agency, despite his being twice rejected by the Senate. (See yesteday's post.)

Critics would have it that the Aracoma families should feel angry at the state for scheduling release of the Aracoma investigation report at this time. Some of us -- though I would not think of claiming to speak on behalf of the families -- are mainly just interested in finding out the results of the investigation, peferably as soon as may be.

The Daily Mail article noted, however, that the state admitted skirting a 5-day notice requirement for public meetings. The reason given was that tomorrow was the most convenient day for the Governor to meet with the families in order to present the report before it goes out to the public.

MSHA Seems Awfully Quiet About This

2006-11-01T13:23:00.000-05:00

West Virginia this week alerted the mining industry to a survey of SCSR's that indicated quite a few units out there could have been damaged by heat exposure, specially given that gauges to indicate excessive heat exposure only came in a couple of years ago.

Self Contained Self-Rescuers - West Virginia Inventory Report and Initial Findings of Long-term Temperature Extremes on Self-Contained Self-Rescuers

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a summary by Dennis Roddy:

The state agency overseeing mine safety in West Virginia yesterday issued a warning that could result in the recall of potentially thousands of underground emergency breathing units because there is no way of knowing if they have been exposed to excessive heat.

Ron Wooten, director of the West Virginia Office of Miner Health Safety and Training, said early data from the first survey of self-contained rescuers at the state's coal mines revealed that 2,750 devices designed to supply an hour's worth of oxygen to trapped miners have no gauge or monitor that would show if they had been exposed to excessive heat that would render them useless....

"CSE relies on the operators and federal and state mine inspectors to assist the miners in identifying and removing damaged units in accordance with manufacturer inspections," [CEO Scott] Shearer wrote. "When OMHST ignores manufacturer warnings on temperature and physical damage resulting in carrying units that are so obviously damaged into mines, OMHST sends the wrong message to the industry."

It's the third recent alert about possible reliability problems.

The Post-Gazette also reported earier this month on a report by NIOSH:

Nearly one-third of emergency oxygen packs similar to those used at the Sago and Kentucky Darby mines failed inspection in federal tests performed before disaster struck at the two mines.

The problems with the CSE SR-100 model self-contained self-rescuers ranged from torn and stuck hoses, to dented and cracked casings, to damage from moisture, according to a newly released report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

And the state of Kentucky issued a warning about possible heat-related damage on September 5.

So far as I can see, not a peep from MSHA so far on this rather vital coal mine safety matter.

Cindy Skrzycki Piece on Stickler Published

2006-10-31T11:21:00.000-05:00

Word from MSHA is that acting assistant secretary David Dye had cleaned out his office and was not seen in MSHA after Mr. Stickler arrived on the scene, to Stickler's apparent regret.

"A Miner Matter"
By Cindy Skrzycki

The Senate sent Richard Stickler' s nomination to become the top U.S. mine-safety official back to the White House -- twice. Widows and relatives of dead miners pleaded that he not be given the job. Stickler lacked the support of lawmakers from key mining states, and some newspaper editorials criticized him as an industry insider.

None of this fazed the White House. When Congress departed for its Election Day recess, President Bush on Oct. 19 made Stickler head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the Department of Labor . His tenure will last though the end of the Senate's next session, sometime next year....

but read the whole thing.

Some Fines Could Drop Under MSHA Proposal

2006-10-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

By now, everyone knows that Prs. Bush went ahead and appointed Richard Stickler to head MSHA after the Senate told him "no" twice. Here's the AP story. Word is that as a consultant, he had been approving all the significant MSHA decisions anyway for some time.

Footnote to prior posting in memory of [Lance] Corporal Ayron C. Kull (September 4). This is the young man who survived two tours in Iraq only to die in a gruesome conveyor belt accident after just a month in his new civilian job. Update: MSHA assessed a civil penalty of $6,900 for the single cited violation. (Maximum penalty by law is $60,000.) The company promptly paid it. End of story. [Correction, 1/19/06 -- his final rank was Corporal.]

The comment period just closed on MSHA's recent proposal to revise its formula for assessing most fines.

"We anticipate that these stronger penalties will induce mine operators to improve their safety and health programs, which prevent hazards from endangering the safety of America's miners in the first place," said David G. Dye, then acting assistant secretary for MSHA, annoucing the proposal in a news release, "MSHA Publishes Proposed Rule to Raise Mine Safety Penalties."

Total assessed penalties will rise, according to the agency's analysis.

But a walk-through of hypothetical violations indicates that some individual penalties may actually come out lower under the proposed system.

The penalty assessment formula already is complex, and would be more complex under the proposal. But take a hypothetical example that -- in a switcheroo not quite worthy of "The Illusionist" perhaps -- would yield a 44 percent lower penalty under the proposal, if my math is right.

Let's imagine a violation at a small sand and gravel mine -- say with 6 full-time workers, working about 12,000 employee-hours a year. (The example would also work for a coal mine producing 15,000 to 30,000 tons).

Under the current system, the mine gets 1 penalty point for mine size; under the proposed system, 2 points.

The mine may belong to a large company. In the sand and gravel industry, many small operations actually belong to multinationals. The largest category of controlling companies gets 5 penalty points under the current system. Under the proposed system, that's unchanged: 5 points.

Suppose the mine's history shows 1.2 violations per inspection-day on the average. That could happen if the mine had 5 inspection days in 2 years(a little over the statutory minimum of 2 inspections per year at every surface mine), and had a total of 6 citations that were "paid or finally adjudicated." (Maybe they actually had more, but any violations that are under contest don't count.) That 6 violations in 5 inspection days translates to 10 penalty points. Under the proposed system, however, with less than 10 violations in a 15-month period, penalty points for a similar history would be 0.

The new system contains a new category of penalty points for repeat violations. Perhaps we can imagine this mine had as many as 5 violations out of the 10 that were repeat violations of the same standard -- say, the guarding standard, which is a common one for this type of operation. Even so, additional penalty points for repeat violations would not apply under the propsal because the number of repeat violations was less than 6. Penalty points in this proposed new category therefore would be 0.

Let's suppose that the violation involves moderate negligence, 15 points under the existing system, 20 under the proposed one. Let's suppose it was S&S -- reasonably likely to cause an accident -- 5 points under the existing system, a whopping 30 under the proposal. Let's suppose the accident, if it occurred, would probably mean lost workdays -- 3 points under the existing system, 5 under the proposal.

And let's suppose the danger involved only one employee -- 1 point under each system.

OK, add up. Total penalty points under the current system come to 40. Under the proposed system the points add up to 63. Now you're saying -- how can the new penalty be less?

Because the scales are different.

A total of 40 penalty points under the existing system translates to $327. But 63 points under the proposal gives only $142.

To refine that further: There's also a deduction for "good faith" efforts in correcting the violation. Most violations are promptly corrected and get the deduction, which is 30 percent under the current system and would be only 10 percent under the proposed one. If the mine operator fixes the problem in a timely way, therefore, the penalty under the current system would be $229. Under the proposal, it would be $128. That's still a 44 percent decrease from the current system to the proposed one.

It is also true that minimum penalties would rise under the proposal, and so would many others. As far as I can figure it out, somewhat more violations would get the current $60,000 maximum (and under new law, egregious violations can result in fines up to $220,000).

But the proposal also could be a gift to mine operators in some cases, particularly small operators who do not see MSHA inspectors very often and -- perhaps only for that reason -- show a small numer of "paid or finally adjudicated" violations in a 15-month period.

If I've made a mistake, MSHA, you have my e-mail address and phone number!

A Mixed Bag....

2006-10-05T14:14:00.000-04:00

Media are reporting on a Department of Labor Inspector General Report that says MSHA's hazard complaint system isn't working the way it should.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - The federal agency charged with keeping U.S. coal mines safe often took two or more days to respond to complaints of hazardous conditions, but it has refused to accept two of 13 recommended improvements from the Office of Inspector General.

The U.S. Department of Labor report, which examined the Mine Safety and Health Administration's hot line responses over three months, recommends MSHA define a timely response in a measurable way, rather than adhering to the current standard of “immediately” or “as soon as possible.”

But the 77-page report says MSHA balked, insisting that a focus on timeliness could lead to an incomplete evaluation of the complaint, an insufficient response and “a premature and uninformed decision.”

Working at MSHA until 2004, I always considered MSHA's hazard complaint reponse system a flagship program. It appeared to me that the district offices took complaints very seriously and made a real effort to detect violations without compromising complainants' anonymity. Was I naive, or has something changed? Or is the IG wrong about some of it? In my observations, IG investigators didn't always fully grasp the programs they were evaluating, and it occasionally seemed as if they themselves were under P.R. or political pressure to find something more to criticize than actually was there. Best to read the whole report.

Interestingly (to me),

The report found that another 11 evaluations were delayed because of a temporary but undetected problem in MSHA's e-mail system, which prevented messages from going to MSHA's contracted answering service or MSHA staff.

Maybe that's why I've been able to reach some MSHA staffers only through my Hotmail account and others only through AOL?

Mine Safety and Health News (by subscription only) recently reported that MSHA lost its paperwork on citations stemming from two different fatal accident inestigations. The papers were misfiled for more than a year, delaying penalty assessments, until the newsletter inquired. This doesn't sound like the MSHA I knew, either. (Full disclosure, I reported this story for MSHN.)

Meanwhile, on a stronger enforcement note, a rare prison sentence in a mine-safety case:

A man convicted along with his father of lying to government investigators about a 2003 death at a southern Illinois coal mine has been sentenced to three months in prison and two years of supervised release.

Lester Erb III, 29, formerly of Harrisburg, also was fined $500 at his sentencing on Sept. 28....

In June, a U.S District Court jury convicted Erb and his father, Lester Erb Jr., 48, of lying to U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration investigators after the death of Adam Scott at a surface mine in Gallatin County.

The elder Erb was also convicted of three counts alleging that as the mine's supervisor, he fudged documentation that falsely showed he had given three employees he hired federally required training. He faces up to five years of prison and $250,000 in fines on each of the five counts. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 3.

More federal money for mine safety:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A mine safety initative at Marshall University will be getting a boost, courtesy of a $2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall announced on Thursday......

The Marshall University Center for Environmental, Geotechnical & Applied Science received the money to develop the Mine Safety Technology Innovation Capability and Regional Business Development program.

The incubator is designed to allow for the development of new business in mine technology services, to create a technology clearinghouse database and provide technology transfer services including virtual interactive and mine environment simulation technologies to further enhance training.

Good news as far as it goes. Maybe I just feel grouchy today, but why is it that the U.S. mining industry doesn't club together and annually contribute a nice chunk of dollars to continuing mine safety research programs the way the industry does in South Africa and Australia? We all say, and some us actually believe, that safety and productivity and profitability all go together. So why lay it all on the poor taxpayer?

Finally, is there a Nyah-Nonny-Nyah-Nyah Moment on the horizon?

As everyone knows by now, the nomination of Richard Stickler to head MSHA has been shuttling back and forth between the Senate committee, which is not delighted with the choice, and the White House which by gorry is not going to take "no" from an uppity Legislative Branch if it can help it.

Government Executive reports it could be be a recess appointment, which the GOP promised not to do the last time, but the White House may not consider that to be binding on the second go-round. That would give Mr. Stickler a whole year in the job before the next presidential election.

Meanwhile buzz from downtown is that Mr. Stickler, working as a consultant in Department of Labor HQ, still is a go-to on major MSHA decisions. If so, whether he has the title may not be that big a deal. Though it does kind of make a mockery of "advice and consent."

Sago Death Toll Rises to 14

2006-09-27T02:27:00.000-04:00

This headline is not an attempt to be clever. The story is heartbreaking.

Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette reports:

Two key figures in January’s disaster at the Sago Mine in Upshur County have taken their own lives in the last three weeks, police and other officials have confirmed.

Their deaths have family and friends of surviving Sago miners and mine rescuers — along with mine safety advocates — concerned about the emotional toll of the Jan. 2 mine tragedy....

Mine dispatcher William Chisolm and John Nelson Boni, a fireboss, shot themselves in separate incidents, authorities said.

Chisolm, 47, of Belington, died on Aug. 29, and Boni, 63, of Volga, died Saturday evening.

Chisolm was the dispatcher on duty the morning of the explosion and Boni had discovered a buildup of methane five days earlier in the sealed part of the mine where the blast occurred.

Assuming these miners suffered from depression in the wake of the accident, and depression led to their deaths, then they also were casualties of the explosion.

It is not the first time something like this has happened in a protracted mine accident investigation. Efforts to catch warning signs and prevent future tragedies of the same kind deserve serious attention.

Looking At Old Practices With A Fresh Eye

2006-09-12T17:11:00.000-04:00

Two professors and 21 students at West Virginia Wesleyan University recently conducted an exercise in “content analysis” on 10 years’ worth of MSHA fatal accident investigation reports.

Content analysis is a method of looking closely at the vocabulary, concepts, specific facts and world view in a body of writing. It uses a coding system and computers. Content analysis – in its more precise way -- can get at some of the same issues as good old-fashioned “critical thinking.” Marketers, political analysts and historians, among others, have found it useful.

The West Virginia Wesleyan group came to its task with no special expertise in mining, but willing to spend time and develop their understanding. Their thoughts deserve consideration.

Some of the group’s ideas have been raised before in the mining industry. In other cases, their fresh eye may have given them an advantage. It must be said that on a few points, their conclusions went beyond their evidence. That, however, does not invalidate all that they have to say.

“The accident reports do not have a consistent format nor do they contain consistent information,” the group reported. MSHA might respond that the format was evolving but is now consistent, which would be true of the overall outline. But lack of consistency in specific information is glaring to anyone who regularly uses these documents.

One small example: most reports mention the victims’ training, at a minimum to say if it met federal requirements. Yet the report on a roof bolter’s death at the Long Branch Energy #18 Tunnel mine this February (as covered in this issue) was silent on the subject. Did the investigators obtain this information? If not, why not? Did they omit the information as unimportant? Or could there have been another reason to withhold it? Did MSHA do its investigative job thoroughly? The reader can’t tell. And anyone trying to study training in relation to fatalities is doomed to frustration.

The group recommends a “template” to ensure consistent information. This excellent idea might best be carried out by a standard form in an appendix to the report. Narrative sections could cover what is essential to understand the particular accident – potentially a different fact set in each case. More details would be there for those who need or want them. As the study group recommended, information that could not be collected should be noted.

This approach also could advance another recommendation: to increase the educational usefulness of the reports.

One challenge to report writers is the many functions a fatality report will serve. The report must document the basis for enforcement actions, identify root causes, demonstrate the thoroughness of the investigation process, help prevent similar accidents through education, provide some closure for families, assist in identifying more general safety needs, and finally serve as a historical record.

All these purposes are important. The core of the report needs to be a clear, precise and thoughtful narrative of the accident, its background, and the critical findings of the investigation. With comprehensive details included in a separate form-style appendix, all these functions can be served even better than at present.

As the study group noted, some categories used to classify accidents need revision. “Powered haulage” is a case in point. What can we learn from lumping together accidents involving haul trucks, conveyor belts, mantrips and surface railroads? While carefully separating these from accidents involving bulldozers and loaders (“machinery”)? And who remembers when the “powered” part of the term was necessary? “Non-powered haulage” – the mine mule – is long gone.

The study group also crunched the data in an effort to find “specific patterns and go beyond hunches and anecdotes that are part of the mining industry.” While some of their findings were no surprise, a few were.

For instance, who would have predicted that the highest peak in fatal accidents would occur about 2 hours into a shift? And while the students felt that almost 40 percent of all fatal accidents resulted from “action of individual miner,” they counted even more as attributable to management: “action of supervisor,” “action of miner and supervisor,” or “operator/management malfeasance.”

With Kentucky and West Virginia at the top of the count and identical in the number of fatal accidents, the students also pointed out that West Virginia had a much worse problem with roof falls and Kentucky with haulage accidents.

The MSHA reports contain much useful information that, in some cases, has been underutilized. This study is a start, and -- it’s to be hoped – can lead to more.

In tabulating deaths according to the victim’s age, the group noted that their data would mean more if they knew how many working miners there are in each age group. The last demographic survey of the mining industry was in 1986. NIOSH reportedly is working on such a survey now. Results cannot come too soon.

The group made a few unwarranted inferences. For instance, to conclude that “Equipment operator is the most dangerous mining operation,” you would strictly speaking have to compare the percentage of miners who are equipment operators with the percentage of fatalities involving them. But even without that, if equipment operators are the most frequent job category among fatal accident victims, it certainly makes sense to give special emphasis to that occupation.

More puzzling is a claim that “…the fact that only sixteen percent of the fatal coal mine accidents had no violations indicates there is a problem with safety enforcement and follow through in America’s coal mines. Prevention of accidents through code enforcement does not appear to be a priority of either MSHA or the coal industry.”

It would be surprising if many fatal accidents occurred without any safety violations to cause them. And while lax enforcement does sometimes exist, a broad-brush conclusion about MSHA and the whole industry – from these data -- does not follow.

One comment to add the students', based on personal experience in summarizing these reports for the last couple of years for Mine Safety and Health News. The “root cause analysis” in the reports is often too general to be informative. It may simply say that management didn’t conduct a hazard analysis, had no process in place to address a particular hazard or failed to enforce its own process. A deeper inquiry into the whys and wherefores of these omissions would be more meaningful.

The West Virginia Wesleyan project also has created a database available for others’ analysis while giving the students experience with a practical project for an important goal. Credit goes as well to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin and state Sago investigation director Davitt McAteer, who instigated the project.

It’s to be hoped that someone may undertake a similar project for fatalities involving metal and nonmetal miners, who – unknown to most – accounted for even more on-the-job deaths in the past 10 years than the coal mining industry.

Bush to Senate: Stick It To You

2006-09-07T18:02:00.000-04:00

Latest from Washington is that the Bush Administration has re-nominated Richard Stickler to head MSHA. He has been a controversial choice since he was first named as the prospective appointee in September 2005.

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) put a hold on the nomination after a public hearing. Also, it came out that despite the controversy, Stickler was quietly added to the Labor Department payroll as an independent contractor, which raised more hackles. At the recent formal signing of the new MINER Act, while showing respect, a Sago Mine family member actually spoke directly to the President about her disapproval of Stickler.

Senators who objected to the nomination obtained a pledge from Republicans in Congress that Mr. Stickler would not be installed in recess appointment. The Senate sent back his nomination, asking the White House to try again.

In line with this Administration's usual stance towards Congress, the White House has simply sent back the same nomination. Yup, a uniter, not a divider.

Labor Department sources say Stickler remains stationed at Department of Labor HQ across the Potomac, where he is receiving extensive briefings on MSHA issues.

The White House has done the same thing with the returned nomination of John R. Correll, who was deputy assistant secretary at MSHA from 2002 to 2005, and was picked to head the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation.

The Interior Department's news release praising the nomination this May said Correll "has served since 2002 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration."

Actually, it's my understanding that John Correll left MSHA's offices in 2005 for a special assistant post at Labor Department HQ, at the same time then-MSHA Chief of Staff Loretta M. Herrington transferred to the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Assistant Secretary Dave D. Lauriski had departed MSHA earlier in the year and his other deputy even earlier, so that kind of made it a clean sweep.

Or did Correll remain a secret Assistant Secretary? :)

Dave Lauriski hired Correll in 2002 into what was nominally a career position. He arrived just after the Quecreek rescue and had been out of the picture for a while by the time of the Sago explosion.

Government Executive has a good summary of the back-and-forth on these and other nominations.

Personal opinion: The "my way or the highway" stance sure isn't doing anything for miners. There are solid mine safety professionals and managers out there who also could be acceptable to most. Among other possibilities, long-term MSHA career professionals and managers have been retiring in substantial numbers for a few years now. Many worked under numerous Administrations of both parties without problems. MSHA should not be a political volleyball.

Labor Day Musing: In Memoriam, [Lance] Corporal Ayron Christopher Kull

2006-09-05T01:31:00.000-04:00

I never met the young man named Ayron Kull, but a routine assignment for Mine Safety and Health News created a haunting memory of him.

The facts on public record and online are sketchy, but enough to create a picture.

He was born in 1983, or maybe late 1982. [It was 1982 -- see below.] He attended Howard Elementary School in Niles, Mich. After graduating from Niles High School in 2001, he joined the Marines. He became a lance corporal with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 2nd Battalion 1st Marines (2/1) Fox Company, stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. His picture, in dress uniform, shows a young, serious-looking fellow.

His unit went to Iraq.

His mother, Jenny Kull, is clearly one of those special people who go beyond the norm to help others.

Mrs. Kull, who "saw online how soldiers were asking for things from home," such as eye drops, moist towlettes, sunscreen, and assorted other personal hygiene items, had already been shipping packages on her own when she shared the idea of adopting her son's unit with other staff members at school.

"Then it snowballed from there," says Mrs. Krull, who has another son in the Air Force. Students and staff at both Howard and Ellis Elementary Schools jumped on the bandwagon, and the Howard-Ellis PTO stepped forward to cover the cost of shipping the packages.

Mrs. Krull's Adopt-a-Marine project offered a list of suggested items along with a resealable plastic bag to people who wanted to participate.

"There are specific guidelines in sending out the packages," Mrs.Krull says. "I told people at school to have fun with it and add something unique."

Judy Bybee's sixth-grade class, who had been writing letters to soldiers, began filling the gallon size bags to send to Lance Cpl. Kull's unit.

Ayron Kull served two tours in Iraq. While there, he made the acquaintance of a reporter for the North County Times, who was writing a series called "Postcards From Fallujah." Darrin Mortenson's stories mentioned him three times.

On April 17, 2004:

Lance Cpl. Ayron Kull, 21, of Nyles, Mich., managed to catch one of the dozens of chickens that run wild in the streets of this lawless and deserted section of Fallujah within the cordon.

April 30:

"I still think we should push forward," said Lance Cpl. Ayron Kull, 20, of Niles, Mich., who was just coming off a shift monitoring the late-afternoon firefight in the city Friday. "But maybe it's good. Let's give the Iraqis a chance. Maybe they can do it and we won't have to come back here and start all over again."

And most poignantly in light of later events, on May 5:

Lance Cpl. Ayron Kull, 21, of Niles, Mich., was a radioman who could make light of even the worst days by poking and jabbing at friends and talking endlessly about what it was going to be like "when we get back."

There's a picture of him with his buddies in Fallujah here, if you click on the forward arrow to the second picture.

Ayron Kull's active duty ended in 2005. He returned to Niles, Mich. At some point around this time, his father passed away. [His final rank was Cpl. His fathers actually passed away between his two tours. See update below.]

He got a job in a local sand and gravel operation, the Aggregate Industries, Inc., Milliken Plant. (Interestingly -- but not really unusual in this industry -- although the plant employed only seven workers, the company was ultimately controlled by a global giant, Holcim Group, which is based in Switzerland and says it has some 80,000 employees worldwide.)

Four weeks and two days after starting his new job, Ayron Kull was dead.

Assigned to shovel spilled material from around a conveyor belt, he approached the moving belt from underneath a crusher that stood above the end of it. There was no machine guard on that side. He somehow contacted the moving machinery.

Two co-workers noticed the conveyor had stopped. At first they didn't realize what had happened, investigators later reported. They thought that maybe the belt was overloaded. They shut off the power. A supervisor arrived to check into the problem. Then someone saw Ayron Kull's safety glasses sitting on a horizontal beam at the back of the plant. He found the missing man caught in the machinery.

Fellow workers sliced throught the heavy conveyor belting and cut off Ayron Kull's reflective vest and coveralls to free him. By then, emergency services had arrived, but efforts to revive the injured man were in vain. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ayron Kull's family and friends said goodbye to him on Saturday, April 8. Buddies from the Marines flew in to attend the service, and a group of Iraq veterans who are also motorcyclists, calling themselves the Patriot Guard, sent representatives.

The Patriot Guard advised its members that memorial contributions could be made to the Wounded Warriors Memorial Fund, c/o Great Western Bank, Building 147, Offutt Air Force Base, Bellevue, NB 68113.

Ayron Kull's supervisors at work who knew him, surely, must grieve over his death also.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration investigated the accident. On April 14, MSHA cited Aggregate Industries for a single alleged violation in that Ayron Kull was working around the unguarded machinery without its being de-energized and blocked against motion. The investigators also reported that the plant management had not established safe procedures for employees to clear away spillage near moving conveors and that Ayron Kull did not recognize the hazard of what he was doing.

Sometime -- it may not be for several more months -- the company will be assessed a proposed civil penalty of up to $60,000. The company will have the right to contest the citation and penalty. That could lead to months or even years of litigation. The fine will not, of couse, undo the tragedy. It may not even be enough to convince upper-level management -- who never knew Ayron Kull -- to invest more time and resources in accident prevention.

More than 5,000 Americans die on the job annually. Ayron Kull's story is especially poignant in that he survived a war only to lose his life in earning a livelihood.

On this Labor Day, after the hot dogs and apple pie and the 1938 recording of Kate Smith singing "The Star Spangled Banner" so clear and true and straight from the heart, it seems right to take a moment to remember Corporal Kull and the others like him.

We can do better by America's working families. If we and our leaders keep in mind the Ayron Kulls of this country, and if in remembering, we have the will.

Update with corrections: January 19, 2007. I've learned from someone who was close to Ayron Kull that I had a few details wrong and there is even more to his story.

New information: He was born June 16, 1982. His final rank was Corporal. His father actually passed away between his two tours in Iraq. His safety vest caught in the conveyor and as a result he was suffocated. The machinery did not do the damage directly.

More: "I think it's important for people to know that on his first tour he couldn't even tell his mom he was going because his battaltion was one of the first over the line -- and his second tour wasn't much prettier being that Ayron and FOX company were stuck in Fallujah for a month."

"Ayron was one of the only people I've ever known that EVERYONE loved. He was always there to make you smile, or to help you out."

He had a life still at its beginning, a family, and a woman who was very dear to him -- who has posted a touching memorial essay at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=40396731

So many human connections -- and the loss of such a person is really a loss to us all.

Another Health Rule Boggs Down?

2006-06-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

Worth taking time to read this week is another piece in Jordan Barab's Confined Space. (How is this guy so productive? And he has a full-time job.)

Read down to June 20:

"Industry Pushes Chemical Gag Rule To Keep Information From Workers and the Public"

The gist: "It's war!" against the Department of Labor, declares Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA) in a hearing on OSHA's use of consensus health standards. OSHA requires employers to inform workers about these in its HazCom rule.

MSHA Metal and Nonmetal health regs have long incorporated consensus health standards published in the 1973 edition of the Threshold Limit Values developed by the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists.

Reportedly, Henry Chajet of Washington law firm Patton and Boggs told Norwood that OSHA, MSHA and the Department of Energy are "abrogating their duties through an insidious delegation of government authority that denies our fellow citizens the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the protection of the laws enacted by the Congress."

But do read the whole Confined Space piece.

Patton and Boggs is a legal and lobbying firm that describes itself as follows:

Patton Boggs was among the first national law firms to recognize that all three branches of government could serve as forums in which to achieve client goals. For more than 40 years, we have maintained a reputation for cutting-edge advocacy by working closely with Congress and regulatory agencies in Washington, litigating in courts across the country, and negotiating business transactions around the world....

We think laterally at the threshold: What venue, or combination of venues, would best serve our clients’ goals?...Our projects frequently involve novel and complex policy questions, and our clients come to us knowing that we won’t stop with the law books in looking for the best solution.

Mr. Chajet has had a highly successful practice in the mining industry as his curriculum vitae indicates.

For instance:

For ten years, he has served as counsel to a coalition of diesel engine users who conduct health effects research in conjunction with government agencies and participate in diesel-related regulatory matters.

As to that, to reprise (partly) an entry in this blog from last February:

The coal mining sector accepted underground diesel emissions exposure limits without contesting them, several years ago.

The rules for non-coal mines were first proposed in 1998 and became final [after extensive industry participation]right at the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001. But industry complaints then led MSHA to delay the compliance schedule and reopen the rule. A key opponent has been the Mining Awareness Resource Group (MARG) Diesel Coalition, spearheaded by veteran mining industry attorney Chajet.

According to [Washington Post reporter] Cindy Skrzycki, Chajet has referred to the rule as a
"giant failed high school science project,"
despite extensive health and feasibility studies.

This month, former MSHA special assistant Celeste Monforton published a knock-down-drag-out narrative of the metal/nonmetal diesel rule's contorted course in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health. (Abstract is here.)

On a Lighter Note

2006-06-24T07:47:00.000-04:00

From the June 15 Long Beach, Calif., Press-Telegram:

MONTCLAIR—A homeowner digging for gold in his front yard said he got “carried away” and ended up with a 60-foot-deep hole, authorities said.

Henry Mora, 63, began digging 10 days ago after his gold detector reported a positive hit near his front patio. He told authorities he intended to go down only three or four feet....

But the metal detector kept luring him on....and on....

Fire officials called to the scene Tuesday found two men that Mora hired inside the hole, using a bucket and rope to remove dirt.

“We told him, You're done,'” said Montclair fire Capt. Rich Baldwin. “It's amazing no one got killed.”

Stuck It To Stickler?

2006-06-15T15:28:00.000-04:00

Jordan Barab at Confined Space just barely skated past the pun:

VICTORY: Senate Sticks It To Bush Mine Safety Nominee
The days of being able to freely appoint industry hacks to important government positions may be drawing to a close for the Bush administration.

Facing certain defeat in a vote to close off debate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist cancelled a scheduled vote this afternoon on the nomination of Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) opposed Frist's motion to cancel the vote and demanded that the vote take place unless he was assured that the Bush Administration would not recess appoint Stickler. After consulting with the White House, Frist agreed that if Bush were to move to recess appoint Stickler, that a Senate vote in would occur first. (The President is allowed to "recess appoint" nominees when the Senate is out of session. Bush has used this tactic numerious times to appoint controversial nominees who can't get Senate approval.)

Kennedy issued a statement calling on Bush to "reconsider and to nominate someone to this crucial position who is a proven champion for mine workers’ safety.”

See the link for the rest of the story.

A New Deal for Miners

2006-06-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

Six months after the Sago mine explosion, we have the first major mine safety legislation to be enacted since 1977. Widely covered, of course, for example in the New York Times:

Stiff Overhaul of Mine Safety Rules Passes Congress

WASHINGTON, June 7 — Responding to a spate of accidents that have killed 33 coal miners this year, the House gave final approval Wednesday to the most sweeping overhaul of mine safety regulations since the federal mine safety agency was created nearly three decades ago.

The measure, approved by a 381-to-37 vote, requires mine operators to provide a second hour's worth of air for miners along escape routes (they now carry one hour's worth). They will also have to provide communication and tracking devices for miners within three years. The maximum civil penalty for violations of mine-safety regulations will rise to $220,000, from $60,000.

Not everyone got all they wanted, but it's a step in the right direction.

I hear the bill is expected to be signed tomorrow. Details about the legislation, including full text, here.

Word was that the Senate would vote this afternoon on nominee Richard M. Stickler for assistant secetary of MSHA, Senator Byrd having removed his "hold" on the nomination. Haven't heard results yet. Speculation: deal was made with White House to allow quick passage of bill in exchange for allowing Stickler appointment to go ahead.

Food Fight, Mark Two?

2006-05-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

Of course the big news is that new federal mine safety legislation unanimously passed the Senate last week. More on that later, I hope.

But this one just can't go un-noted: As state investigators move ahead with the underground investigation at the Kentucky Darby mine where an explosion killed five, MSHA has declined to join them, AP reports.

The feds reportedly say it isn't safe; the state says it is. Never in the history of mine safety and health that I am aware has there been a rift like this one. Adding to the confusion: MSHA is the the Department of Labor. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao is married to Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Here's what Al Cross of the Courier-journal had to say last fall about McConnell/(Republican Ky. governor Ernie) Fletcher relations:

"Fletcher's base wasn't very deep anyway, and it was largely fostered by McConnell's quiet support for him in the 2003 primary. After the primary, when I was still this newspaper's political reporter, McConnell went out of his way to show me the little hideaway office in the U.S. Capitol where he pushed Fletcher to run.

At Fletcher's inauguration, McConnell beamed like a proud papa, but for the last several weeks, he has acted like the defendant in a political paternity suit."

When MSHA had an internal dispute that got aired in the press early in Chao's tenure about the conduct of an accident investigation, Chao called it a "food fight." Is it too much of a reach to wonder what they're calling this?

Meanwhile, Senator Byrd reportedly is keeping his "hold" on the nomination of Richard Stickler to head MSHA, the Courier-Journal reports. And the Bush adinistration isn't budging.

I Guess Somebody Reads..

2006-05-24T10:07:00.000-04:00

..MineSafetyWatch over at MSHA, though some have told me they seem to be blocked from it.

MSHA has removed the prayer reference from its news release announcing the investigation. (See yeterday's post.)

Don't just take my word for it, though, the original release is still here. (At least for now.)

* * *

Meanwhile, Kentucky investigators at Darby are saying it looks like methane leaked through a seal, the Courier-Journal reports.

Clarification: virtually all coal mine explosions start with methane. Then typically, coal dust fills the air and joins in the explosion, magnifying it. It's not either/or. In theory, enough fine coal dust in the air can explode without any methane at all, but that rarely happens, because the coal dust needs something to disperse it before it's an explosion hazard.

Investigators Underground, Feds Praying

2006-05-23T14:56:00.000-04:00

MSHA has announced that Tom Light, assistant district manager from District 2 in Pennsylvania, will lead the agency's investigation into the Kentucky Darby mine explosion. Reportedly, investigators already are underground.

Light is a long time MSHA vet (31 years) and can be expected to do a professional job in the investigation.

* * *

Sidebar:

“We continue to pray for the family and friends of the five miners who lost their lives this past weekend," said acting assistant secretary of MSHA David Dye in making the announcement.

Not "our hearts go out to," the families, not "our sympathies," not "we are profoundly sorry for their loss."

I'm going to step way out of line here, recognizing that the separation-of-church-and-state thing is a silly outworn notion that no public official takes seriously any more. But in my opinion, such a quote in this situation amounts to a tasteless advertisement for the piety of the speaker and -- amazingly -- a whole federal agency.

The place to tell someone you are praying for him or her is in a personal communication, not a press release.

"When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men... But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret." (Matthew 6:5-6)

I don't blame Mr. Dye for having that quote in there, however; no doubt it was dictated from Higher Up.

No Stopping It

2006-05-22T18:20:00.000-04:00

Again. Five this time.

The coal mines have not seen a worse sequence of three like Sago (12 dead) -- Alma (2 dead) -- and now Darby (5) since the winter of 1981-2 when three explosions killed 28 in 2 months.

This one happened in the wee hours and was over by morning, and "a horse's broken leg gets more media attention" comments "Angry Kentuckian."

Deja vu in another way too:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "[Former MSHA and Kentucky state official] Tony] Oppegard said a MSHA official told him the blast may have occurred behind a sealed-off portion of the mine, as happened at Sago....

"Also as with Sago, the explosion apparently obliterated a seal inside the mine constructed with Omega blocks, a concrete and fiber composite material that is lighter than the traditional concrete blocks, Mr. Oppegard said."

At the Sago public hearings earlier this month, a lot of questions focused on the "Omega block" stopping that was supposed to keep methane out of active workings but was just about vaporized by the explosion. MSHA said that simulation tests would go on all summer to figure out what happened. Federal officials were waiting for that analysis before making at any policy changes.

Today, they have changed their tune.

Mine Safety and Health News notified subscribers by e-mail: "MSHA announced today that the agency will begin a reassessment of the structural integrity of existing alternative seals and will require testing of the atmosphere behind the seals. For those alternative seals with structural issues in which the atmosphere behind them is potentially explosive, MSHA officials will require additional precautions to protect miners. MSHA also announced a moratorium on new construction of alternative seals under the 1992 MSHA standard, and district managers have been ordered not to approve requests to construct alternative seals in underground coal mines."

Sadly, "Kentucky legislators, responding to the deadly accidents at mines across the country, including January’s disaster that killed 12 miners at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, passed a measure requiring mines to store breathing devices underground, and to set up lifelines to help miners find their way out. But the law doesn’t take effect until July." (Charleston Gazette)

Especially wrenching was read a comment in the Herald-Leader by a former miner and local minister: "...I guess we have to learn to live with it. There ain't nothing we can do about it, but it's so sad when it happens."

About what already happened, that's true. But something can be done to make a different future.

Randall McCloy's Story

2006-04-27T15:37:00.000-04:00

AP reports it obtained a letter from rescued Sago miner Randall McCloy to families of other victims, providing a heartbreaking first-hand account of the men's ordeal.

McCloy wrote that the trapped miners didn't even have as much oxygen as regs required because several devices didn't work properly.

"The first thing we did was activate our rescuers, as we had been trained. At least four of the rescuers did not function,' McCloy wrote. 'I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Junior Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.'

...his letter suggests most of the trapped men had no more than 30 minutes of air, and they used it quickly as they tried to signal their location to people they believed were searching for them above, listening for sounds.

"...'The air was so bad that we had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves,' he wrote.

"We attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time, we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface."

In other words, they followed a strategy that saved the miners in the July 2002 Quecreek flood; but it failed them.

It's not known why MSHA didn't bring its well-known seismic system, which detects such underground pounding, into play at Sago as at Quecreek. The system has also located living victims in earthquakes.

A public hearing into the Sago tragedy starts Tuesday in Buckhannon, W.Va. MSHA and the state are running the hearings jointly. Davitt McAteer, former head of MSHA, is chairing the hearing. Two days have been allowed.

Same Old Same Old

2006-04-25T15:24:00.000-04:00

Computer problems again, and still shopping for a new system. Meanwhile...

Coal mine fatalities have climbed to 26, compared with 22 for the whole year of 2005. Metal nonmetal mine deaths are at 8, similar to the previous three years, all of which marked 8 or 9 at this time.
Regional reporters are continuing to dig into mine safety and evidently hitting new veins of the "same old" pay dirt: lax enforcement.

At the state level, the Courier-Journal makes connections:

You probably won't remember the name Charles Robert Stump, but he has made the news twice in a week.

Back in 2004, he ran the Highlands Mining and Processing underground operation near Cumberland in Harlan County. There he ordered work to continue, despite the "red tags" with which state inspectors had closed parts of his mine, because of unsafe conditions....

Yesterday, state officials released a copy of the agreement that settled the case. It revokes Mr. Stump's mine foreman papers for three years, probates his underground miner certificate for that same period and slaps him and the company, jointly, with a $10,000 fine.

...The firm is defunct, so who knows whether Highlands will pay its share.

....He is an owner at the Tri Star Coal mine in Pike County where, just last week, 28-year-old David Chad Bolen died while moving a shuttle car anchor."

And at the federal level Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is calling for a hearing into charges that a federal inspector was instructed to back off enforcement at the Alma mine before a disastrous fire this year that killed two.

The Post-Gazette had the original story and followup:

"Minness Justice, an inspector with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, told fellow MSHA employee Danny Woods that he believed dangerous amounts of spilled coal and dust had been allowed to accumulate along the belt line, raising the risk of a fire, and that the belt's fire suppression system was inadequate, Mr. Woods said.

"'He was just told to back off and let them run coal, that there was too much demand for coal,' Mr. Woods said. 'He came up and told me he was told to do certain things and the inspectors before him hadn't done a proper job.'"

Whatever the truth of the matter, I hope very much that MSHA and its bosses at the Department of Labor will not be planning to fire Mr. Justice and/or Mr. Woods. Not even after a couple of years and on "unrelated" charges.

It is to be hoped that somebody learned that much from the actions against former MSHA Academy superintendent Jack Spadaro, when he complained of management coercion in the investigation of a coal mine impoundment failure.

One summary of how that played out is here and a followup here.

Some good things also are happening. MSHA has approved a couple of radios for underground coal mine use, which could help in any future Sago-like underground rescue efforts. MSHA also has apparently started to give some publicity to big fines it issues, for example here and here. This could be a p.r. strike against "lax enforcement" charges; it's also just a good thing to do.

An important international mine heatlh and safety symposium took place last week at Wheeling Jesuit University. Here's just one story from a local paper.

Something Gone Badly Wrong

2006-04-12T18:38:00.000-04:00

And it was not just one major tragedy.

This week U.S. coal mine deaths for the year climbed to 24. That's 12 in the Sago explosion, two in the Aracoma mine fire, plus 10 more. Ten individual deaths.

Last year at this time, the total number of coal mining deaths was 3.

The corresponding figure was 9 in 2004, 11 in 2003 and 10 in 2002.)

KY Has a New Mine Safety Law

2006-03-25T11:10:00.000-05:00

...and they're reading about it all the way to the other UK (United Kingdom), courtesy of AP:

State inspectors will visit every coal mine in Kentucky at least three times a year under legislation passed in the wake of coal mine deaths in West Virginia and Kentucky.

The measure, which received final approval when it passed the Senate on a 37-0 Friday night, also requires that breathing devices be stored in underground escapeways. It allows the state to fine coal companies for safety violations and offers job protections to whistleblowers who expose unsafe mining conditions.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher will sign the bill, spokeswoman Jodi Whitaker said.

Post-Gazette Gets Inside Alma Investigation

2006-03-24T14:38:00.000-05:00

Dennis Roddy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that investigators in the ongoing investigation of the January 19 West Virginia mine fire that claimed two lives found stoppings gone that should have been there according to the ventilation plan. Roddy cites multiple "sources"; no one's talking on the record. Reportedly:

"The conveyor belt ignited on the morning of Jan. 19, pouring smoke through the gaps in the wall and into the fresh air passageway that the miners were supposed to use for their escape, obscuring their vision and ultimately leading to the death of two of them."

Byrd Reportedly Puts Hold on Stickler Nomination

2006-03-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's hard to keep up with all the MSHA events, but the Courier-Journal's Jim Carroll is trying. He recently had some notes from the Washington front including the following:

"[Senator Robert]Byrd last week put a hold on the nomination of Richard Stickler as the new head of MSHA. That means the full Senate can't vote on Stickler until Byrd decides otherwise.....

"Until I know that Mr. Stickler will make safety job No. 1 at MSHA, I will not allow his nomination to move forward," Byrd said.

Byrd, a senior senator from the nation's second-largest coal-producing state, has never met Stickler. Byrd said he wanted a meeting with Stickler to discuss his concerns, but nothing happened before the Senate left Thursday for a weeklong break.

Indiana Story

2006-03-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

WHTR-TV has a lengthy piece on the Indiana state government's failure to do any mine inspections.

Two days after the West Virginia coal mining accident that killed 12 miners in January, a clear directive went out from Miguel Rivera, Indiana's commissioner of labor. In a letter to John Alaria, the deputy commissioner of the bureau of mines, Rivera wrote: "I am instructing you to commence inspection at each of the underground commercial coal mines in Indiana."

The state decided to "commence" inspections because, as an Eyewitness News investigation found, state officials hadn't inspected a single one of Indiana's seven underground coal mines for at least a year - a violation of state law.

Rivera said the state had concentrated on training and mine rescue.

"I made that call," state Department of Labor Commissioner Miguel Rivera told Eyewitness News....

...State law also requires the bureau of mines to have both a director and a chief mine inspector, but for most of the last year, the bureau has had only one employee - [John] Alaria.

Rivera said the department's budget wouldn't allow for the hiring of a second employee, but Alaria was filling both roles.

Alaria has now quit, the station reported.

The state has a $177,442 grant from MSHA to herlp support its miner training program administered through a public college.

2006-03-13T18:10:00.000-05:00

Just got back from MSHA's all-day session to hear about technology for communication and tracking in mine emergencies, which they held at the National Press Club. Daily press people I saw included AP, Courier-Journal, Pittsburg Post-Gazette. It was too bad that, so far as I could see, those folks were not there after the lunch break, and so apparently didn't get to hear remarks by several mine rescue team members who were responders at the Sago emergency. MSHA acting chief David Dye also departed at halftime.

Mty mind is slightly boggled by the technical side at the moment. (Slightly? Let's say confused but confident of getting it right with some followup calls.)

The human side is easier to read. The mine rescue team members, from CONSOL's Blacksville No. 2, Robinson Run, and Loveridge Mine were still obviously shaken from their experience and, among all the speakers, were the one that got applause from the audience. They have definite ideas about how to do better and not all involve technology. For instance, comments by two indicated some teams had trouble getting past checkpoints at Sago, and an ID system for teams could help with that. They also are asking to help test the technology in actual mines. By the way, they had high praise for gtheir company's training and support for the teams.

The rescue team members thought some of the technical presentations were unrealistic. Of some proposed components, "a little bit of plastic" isn't going to survive an explosion, one said. Bottom line from these guys on technology: some of the "out there" ideas aren't going to work, but technology does exist that could be used now or within a pretty short time, and they want action taken.

Company officials from Arch and Peabody talked about systems they've used. Underground systems of course are vulnerable to damage, but they said surface anternnas (which can work just as well) have been a problem due to rough terrain and property rights, among other things.

Then there were the firms with products to show, and quite a few more folks with an interest in this area. Most discussion was on wireless or partially wireless ommunication underground and this is where I have to hit the books to make sense of it. There's even a, get this, bomb-proofing paint, which someone was discussing informally during a break, which might remotely be of use in hardening components or facilities.

Anyway, too much to digest here, but will be writing it up for MS&HNews.

A Stickler for Mine Safety

2006-03-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions yesterday approved Richard M. Stickler to head MSHA on a strict party-line vote, according to an AP story in the Courier-Journal.

His approval by the full Senate seems like a shoo-in.

Stickler's nomination was equally divisive with stakeholders: industry groups that spoke about the nomination were supportive, while the UMWA and AFL-CIO were strongly opposed.

Stickler headed Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety from 1997 to 2003, when he retired. Before that, he worked his way up through the ranks in BethEnergy's coal mines. He also spent two years with Massey subsidiary Performance Coal.

MSHA's Temporary Emergency Standard Hits the Street

2006-03-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

MSHA has posted its awaited Temporary Emergency Standard intended to help prevent more Sagos and Almas. It's only on open file at the Federal Register right now but due for pubication on Thursday, at which time it will take effect.

The actual requirements start on page 96 of the 111 page document. (Link is on MSHA's home page.)

To be fair: The reason for that, and contributing to the length of time this rule has taken, is largely the procedures imposed by various laws, regulations, executive orders and the OMB that any federal agency has to comply with in order to put out any new rule, however urgent or obvious. (The growth of such requirements in another story, but they largely began with the National Environmental Policy Act, enacted in 1969.)

Some highlights of the ETS:

§ 50.10 Immediate notification.

If an accident occurs, an operator shall immediately
contact the MSHA District Office having jurisdiction over
its mine. If an operator cannot contact the appropriate
MSHA District Office, it shall immediately contact the MSHA
Headquarters Office in Arlington, Virginia by telephone, at(800) 746-1553. The operator shall contact MSHA as
described at once without delay and within 15 minutes. If communications are lost because of an emergency or other
unexpected event, the operator shall notify MSHA at once
without delay and within 15 minutes of having access to a
telephone or other means of communication.

§ 75.1714-4 Additional Self-Contained Self-Rescuers.

(a) In addition to the requirements in §§ 75.1714, 75.1714-
1, 75.1714-2, and 75.1714-3, the mine operator shall
provide for each person who is underground at least one
additional SCSR device, which provides protection for a
period of one hour or longer, to cover all persons in the
mine.

c) When the SCSR devices otherwise required by paragraph
(a) of § 75.1714 are not adequate to provide enough oxygen
for all persons to safely evacuate the mine under mine
emergency conditions, the mine operator shall provide
additional SCSR devices in the primary and alternate
escapeways.

(e) A sign made of reflective material with the words
“SELF-RESCUERS” shall be conspicuously posted at each
storage location and direction signs made of a reflective
material shall be posted leading to each storage location.

§ 75.380 Escapeways; bituminous and lignite mines.

(d) 7) Provided with a continuous directional lifeline or
equivalent device that shall be:

(i) Installed and maintained throughout the entire
length of each escapeway as defined in paragraph (b)(1) of
this section.

(ii) Made of durable material.

(iii) Marked with a reflective material every 25 feet.

(iv) Located in such a manner for miners to use
effectively to escape.

(v) Equipped with directional indicators, signifying
the route of escape, placed at intervals not exceeding 100
feet.

(vi) Securely attached to and marked to show the
location of any SCSR storage locations in the escapeways.

75.1502 Mine emergency evacuation and firefighting
program of instruction.

(c) Mine emergency evacuation drills. Each operator of an
underground coal mine shall require all miners to
participate in mine emergency evacuation drills.

(1) Mine emergency evacuation drills shall be held at
periods of time so as to ensure that all miners participate
in such evacuations at intervals of not more than 90 days.

(2) For purposes of this paragraph (c), a mine emergency
evacuation drill means that the miner shall travel the
primary or alternate escapeway, from the working section or
the miner’s work station, to the surface or the exits at
the bottom of the shaft or slope. An evacuation drill
shall not be conducted in the same escapeway as the
immediately preceding drill.

Public hearings in April will give everyone a chance to weigh in on whether these rules should be permanent.

Video Link

2006-03-03T16:12:00.000-05:00

Here's a video link to the mine safety hearing on Wednesday.

Things suddenly got heated at the end when Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., wanted a second round of questions and subcommittee chairman Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., said no.

Miller can be heard saying, "This is b******t," and Norwood, responding, "When you get in charge you get to run the d**m thing..."

Tracking System Saves A Miner

2006-02-28T14:51:00.000-05:00

"Monsters and Critics" web news carries this report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur:

Warsaw - A Polish coal miner trapped more than a kilometre underground for 111 hours was brought to the surface alive and well Monday after rescuers freed him from under tons of rubble in the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska, southern Poland....Rescuers located the man thanks to a special transmitter worn by miners.

Zbigniew Nowak, 30, reportedly suffered dehydration but nothing worse. One other miner was rescued shortly after the roof fall and 30 more escaped on their own.

If any readers have ideas

2006-02-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Mexican miners didn't make it. Authorities declared them dead, but crews still weren't able to reach them. Altogether about as bad as it could be.

Meanwhile, in this country we have both House and Senate hearings coming up this week on mine safety. Several proposed bills are on the table and more ideas are under discussion.

If readers would like to share ideas regarding the best way to legislate for better mine safety, feel free to e-mail me at minesafetywatch@hotmail.com. I'll post all comments that are fit to print :)

Little Progress Four Days After Mexico Explosion

2006-02-23T16:50:00.000-05:00

It is a long time, I believe, since this continent has seen a coal mine emergency of this magnitude. Possibly it has been since the 1968 explosion in Farmington, W.Va., when 78 died.

Some 65 miners remain missing after an explosion last Sunday at Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V.'s Pasta de Conchos mine, about 85 miles from the U.S. border in the state of Coahuila, AP reported today. Reportedly rescuers were getting close to an area where two miners might have been.

MSHA's emergency operations team was dispatched Tuesday, the first time in several years that the agency has sent help to a mine emergency on foreign soil. They should be on site by now.

And in a familiar note, communication has become an issue here as well:

"The lack of news added to the strain on the hundreds of weary relatives of the trapped miners. The family members have camped outside the mine in the bitter cold since Sunday's pre-dawn explosion.

"A crowd of about 600 shouted at Vilchis until he took refuge behind a line of five soldiers guarding the entrance to the Pasta de Conchos mine.

"'What are you hiding?' shouted one man. 'If you don't tell us the truth we will go into the mine ourselves.'

Yadira Gallegos, whose brother-in-law is trapped in the mine, accused officials of lying to them.

"'They said they would tell us something at three o' clock, but they never came out. We want answers,' she said.

"The crowd calmed down when two rescue workers emerged from the pit in the evening and urged them to have patience."

Reuters has a piece on the economic realities of coal mining in Mexico. Sample:

"...with miners' wages often no more than 700 pesos ($67) a week, plus performance bonuses, there are few signs of prosperity here....

"Food is not scarce but it is basic -- potatoes, beans and tortillas, with a little meat thrown in once a week. New clothes for the children are bought when twice-yearly bonuses, obligatory under Mexican law, are paid.

"Life in the mines anywhere in the world is tough but some miners here say their hunger for the performance bonuses encourage accidents.

"Pedro Calzoncit Hernandes...has worked at area coal mines for more than 30 years. He said workers often ignored basic safety procedures and kept digging instead of laying down tools to check wires and ventilation pipes.

"'We earn a salary that feeds us, nothing more,' he said. 'That's why the desire to keep working often wins when really work should stop.'"

The Houston Chronicle also has a story on miners' lives, but gives it a macho take:

"Men continue going into the mines, their wives, mothers and lovers will say, because there's no other work. Poverty condemns them, the women say.

"'People who earn so little have no chance to educate their children,' said Maria Esther Martinez, 39...who hopes to keep her 15-year-old son from the tunnels. 'And a child without education hasn't any choices, at 18 years old it's to the mines.'

"...But that's not completely true, some miners say.

"There are options — area factories make everything from clothing to auto parts, steel foundries hire in Monclova and Monterrey, good-paying jobs await any man willing to illegally cross the Rio Grande. Many miners also have a bit of farmland, where they raise crops and livestock. But mining gets into a man's blood, some say. The camaraderie of riding down into the depths.

"...Mining's a calling, something a man can take pride in. Not everyone is willing to go down the holes, not everyone should.

"'It's a beautiful job, a worthy job,' said Ignacio Moreno, 38, who clocked out after the second shift at the No. 8 mine Saturday night, going to bed just a few hours before the 2 a.m. explosion trapped the 65 men."

We can bet the factory wages are less than mining, and it seems a little odd to imply that the mines must all right because illegal immigration provides an alternative.

But as for mining getting into the blood, that sounds like something U.S. and Mexican miners share: a proud heritage and a very special bond.

You Just Couldn't Make This Stuff Up

2006-02-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

Shredding the facts and using them as confetti, Episode No. we've lost count:

Today's not-to-be-missed story is in the Courier-Journal.

"The crowd must have been impressed at last week's hearing on the Department of Labor budget. Two real players were on the floor...

Chao, who says the feds are doing a fine job, obviously needed an assist at the hearings. Into the lineup came Northup, saying, 'As I understand it, the new West Virginia law that pertains to mining safety requires technology that, now that it has been signed, turned out not to really exist or hasn't been developed. Before we pass more laws, I think it's important we invest in more development.'

'You're absolutely right,' chirped Chao."

Only the devices they're discussing are already used in about a dozen U.S. mines according to testimony in other Congruessional forums since the Sago explosion.

For instance, the manufacturer was showing them at a Senate-side technology roundtable one a week ago.

Diesel Daze

2006-02-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

Cindy Skrzycki of the Washington Post had a piece Tuesday about MSHA's diesel emissions exposure rule for underground metal and nonmetal mines, which MSHA recently proposed to delay for another 5 years.

The coal mining sector accepted underground diesel emissions exposure limits without contesting them, several years ago.

The rules for non-coal mines were first proposed in 1998 and became final right at the end of the Clinton administration in January 2001. But industry complaints then led MSHA to delay the compliance schedule and reopen the rule. A key opponent has been the Mining Awareness Resource Group (MARG) Diesel Coalition, spearheaded by veteran mining industry attorney Chajet.

According to Skrzycki, Chajet has referred to the rule as a

"giant failed high school science project,"

despite extensive health and feasibility studies.

This month, former MSHA special assistant Celeste Monforton published a knock-down-drag-out narrative of the metal/nonmetal diesel rule's contorted course in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health. (Abstract is here.)

"The posturing by MARG, some mining companies and MSHA goes on in air-conditioned offices while underground miners continue to breathe the highest level of diesel exhaust of any workers in the country,"

Monforton wrote.

Monforton, who holds a Master's degree in public health, now is with George Washington University's Environmental and Occupational Health department.

Skrzycki reported that Representatives Major R. Owens (D-N.Y.) and Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) have written to Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao asking her to cancel the latest proposed delay.

Just A Quick Roundup Today

2006-02-10T12:01:00.000-05:00

"The federal government levied a larger fine — $550,000 — for the 2004 Super Bowl showing of Janet Jackson's breast than it did for the 2001 deaths of 13 miners in one of the deadliest mine disasters in a quarter-century,"

USA Today/Gannett reports.

Kentucky's House has following West Virginia's suit by passing a bill to strengthen mine safety by requiring more SCSRs underground, quicker accident reporting and more inspections, the Courier-Journal reported. The bill now goes to the state Senate.

West Virginia has passed another law, requiring that the new director of mine safety have 5 years of mining education/experience (Charleston Daily Mail).

And the minority staff of the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee this week released a report that rips MSHA enforcement.

MSHA Flip-Flops on Breathing Devices, WV Mine Safety Chief Stepping Down

2006-02-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

Seth Borenstein of Knight-Ridder's Washington Bureau:

"Federal mine safety officials, who four years ago axed a requirement to stock coal mines with spare emergency air masks to protect miners from poisonous gases, now say workers are in 'grave danger' without those breathing devices.

"Following back-to-back mining accidents in West Virginia that killed 14 men last month, the Bush administration is reviving a rule that would require the added supplies of the masks and the training to use them."

MSHA rushed out a press release late yesterday after being called to comment on the story.

After criticism from the Courier-Journal about failure to collect civil penalties, MSHA is now suing a defunct mine operator in the state, the newspaper reports.

Doug Conaway, director of West Virginia's Office on Miners' Health, Safety and Training, who has been less than highly visible for some months now, says he will leave the job soon.

And Governor Manchin is taking on an unpaid legal adviser to the mine safety office.

Welcome to Washington

2006-02-06T16:56:00.000-05:00

On a lighter note, I see MSHA acting assistant secretary David Dye and coal mine safety and health administrator Ray McKinney have achieved the 15 minutes of fame that comes to so many in Washington by making Al Kamen's In the Loop.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.)apparently hasn't dropped his indignation over Dye's early walkout on a special appropriations subcommittee meeting January 23 to discuss the Sago disaster.

"Were these men instructed by anybody in your department to leave?" Specter asked [in a letter to Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao].

Senator, since you raise the question, I also heard from more than one MSHA source that Dye and McKinney left the hearing under orders from above.

I also found, via the Internet, that Secretary Chao herself reportedly walked away in the middle of a January 2004 Specter hearing on the Labor Department's then-prospective revisions to overtime rules.

The Washington Post reported the overtime hearing story, which -- *paranoia alert* -- seems to be gone from the newspaper's website since I first located it.

But, the story I remember also was copied, without attribution,(tut tut tut) on various organizational websites:

Labor Secretary refuses to delay new overtime provisions

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, appearing before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, refused a request by Republican chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania to delay the implementation of the Bush administration’s plan to change overtime provisions.

Jared Bernstein, economist of the Economic Policy Institute, testified before the subcommittee that 8 million workers could lose overtime should the changes be implemented, dwarfing the figure peddled by the Labor Department, which estimates a mere 644,000 workers would be affected.

“Enough time has been spent on delays and studies of all sorts,” Chao said, in reference to Specter’s request that her department delay the new implementation, presently scheduled for March 31, until September. Specter also asked Chao if she would remain at the hearings while following testimony debated how many workers would be adversely affected by the new measure. Chao left immediately following her testimony.

and footnoted in the Washington Times as well:

Washington Times: Bush gives Specter smackdown on overtime

Article

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

WASHINGTON-- U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has denied a public request from Pennsylvania's senior senator to delay loosening the nation's overtime rules.

Chao, testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee's labor subcommittee, refused a request by the panel's chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to delay until September a business-backed plan to overhaul overtime rules.

"Enough time has been spent on delays and studies of all sorts," Chao told Specter at the Tuesday hearing, adding the department intends to put the new regulations into effect by March 31.

Chao said employers are spending $2 billion a year on "needless litigation" by workers seeking overtime pay. The lawsuits diverted money from "job creation and better pay and benefits," she said.

Specter, facing a re-election fight against conservative Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., scheduled the hearing so the topic could get a "full airing."

Besides asking Chao for the delay, Specter also asked her to remain in the hearing room for subsequent discussions. She refused, leaving after her scheduled testimony, the Washington Post reported

Two More In West Virginia

2006-02-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

From the Charleston Gazette:

"The two fatalities Wednesday, both in Boone County, come just after a month that saw 14 West Virginia miners die in two accidents. The 16 industry deaths so far in 2006 are the most reported in any entire year in West Virginia since 1995, when there were also 16.

At Long Branch Energy’s No. 18 Tunnel Mine near Wharton.. said Dirk Fillpot, a spokesman for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration....“The rib popped out from the side of the mine.”

This means that unmined coal, which is left in place to help support the area, gave way under excessive pressure. The issues in this type of accident are generally the same as in roof falls. Did the mine operator follow the approved roof control plan? Was the plan adequate? Had there been similar incidents or was there any other reason why the failure could be anticipated? Roof fall deaths nationwide increased last year despite the overall low record in coal mining deaths.

A miner at the same operation suffered a lost-time injury in another "rib roll" on January 6. The mine operator described it this way in a report to MSHA (emphasis mine):

"EE was changing scoop battery at mains battery station. He walked around front of scoop bucket and rib roll caught foot against scoop bucket. He returned to restricted duty work on 11/18/06."

(Obvious error in return-to-work date, must mean 1/18.) Also,

"At Massey Energy subsidiary Elk Run Coal Co.’s Black Castle Surface Mine near Williams Mountain, a dozer driver hit a gas well or a gas line. The driver was killed in the ensuing fire, according to state and federal officials."

Governor Manchin has asked all West Virginia coal mines to interrupt production and review their safety.

Lots of Developments, Good and Otherwise

2006-02-01T17:32:00.000-05:00

Richard Stickler, former director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, spoke at his confirmation hearing yesterday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He had some good things to say about his long experience in mining, mine safety and mine rescue. But Senators of both parties appeared to me to be frustrated by his noncommittal responses on many points as they asked for his commitment to making changes. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) pressed Stickler repeatedly to meet with the families of the Sago victims, and soon, if he is confirmed. Stickler's final response was inaudible.

MSHA has just reversed itself on a two-year-old secrecy policy under which the agency has refused to release inspector notes under FOIA until all possibility of litigation has expired (potentially years in some cases). The policy had changed more than 25 years of practice and seemed to please no one. Yet it required bipartisan requests from Congress(Republican, Democrat) to get MSHA to do the right thing. The unannounced adoption of the policy first was brought to light by Mine Safety and Health News in 2004, and most recently hit the pages of Time . Inspectors' notes have not been the only subject of a FOIA rollback at MSHA, but they are significant and it's gratifying that the agency has returned to following the law on this point.

Pete Galvin, who worked in MSHA's Office of Standard, Regulations and Variance in the 1990's, is now in the office of Rep. George Miller (D-Mass.) and focusing on mine safety and health issues. He gave the okay to publish his contact information for any friends who might like to get in touch: (202) 225-3656, or e-mail peter.galvin@mail.house.gov

West Virginia's federal legislators have just introduced potentially far-reaching mine safety legislation in Congress. Information from Senator Byrd's office follows.

For immediate release: Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Contact: Jennifer Reed, 202-224-3904; Mark Ferrell, 304-342-5955

West Virginia Federal Delegation Introduces Mine Safety Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C.... U.S. Senators Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., introduced legislation aimed at preventing future fatal mine tragedies. The legislation, written by all five members of the West Virginia Congressional Delegation, will focus on several areas, including rapid notification and response, tougher penalties for habitual safety violators, emergency communications and breathing equipment, and expanded use of advanced safety technologies. The text of Senator Byrd’s introductory remarks are below.

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It has been almost one month since the explosion that killed twelve miners at the Sago Mine in Upshur County, West Virginia, and almost two weeks since the conveyor belt fire that killed two miners at the Aracoma Alma Mine in Logan County, West Virginia. In that time, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor has briefed my office on several occasions. The Senate-Labor HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, at my request and under the leadership of Chairman Arlen Specter and Ranking Member Tom Harkin, has held a hearing and solicited testimony from mine safety experts. The West Virginia Delegation in the House and the Senate has met with the Governor of West Virginia, the White House Chief of Staff, and the acting MSHA Director to review mine safety legislation passed by the West Virginia Legislature in the wake of the Sago and Alma tragedies.

We now can speak with some certainty about what contributed to the tragedies at the Sago and Alma Mines that killed 14 coal miners. We know that these tragedies have highlighted gross weaknesses in mine emergency preparedness, and the failure of leadership at the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to get tough about rescue procedures.

We know that communications technology in our nation's coal mines is inadequate. The federal mine regulators require only that a telephone line connect the working sections of mines to the surface. If that telephone line doesn't work in the event of an emergency, the miners trapped underground are cut off from the rescue effort. Those on the surface cannot get a message to the miners underground, and the miners underground cannot get a message to those on the surface. At the Sago and Alma Mines, families waited in anguish for forty hours, not knowing if their loved ones were alive or dead, because the communications equipment in the mine didn't work.

We know that federal mine safety officials cannot immediately locate miners trapped underground. At both the Sago and Alma Mines, families waited and waited, while rescue teams searched meticulously through the underground caverns. Those teams could only make educated guesses about the location of the trapped miners, putting the rescue teams' lives and the lives of the trapped miners at increased risk while the search went on.

We know that the MSHA notification and response system is ponderously slow. Federal mine safety officials did not know of the Sago explosion until two hours after it happened, and it took another nine hours before rescue teams could enter the mine. The same thing happened at the Alma Mine. Federal mine safety officials did not know of the underground fire for two and one-half hours, and, in that time, the fire spread and got worse.

We know that federal mine regulators require only that miners have a one-hour emergency breathing device, and, at the Sago Mine, one hour of oxygen was not nearly adequate to sustain those miners through a forty-hour rescue operation. We also know that the Mine Safety and Health Administration, tragically, abandoned its assessment of the rules governing these one-hour emergency breathing devices in December of 2001.

We know that the mine rescue teams, at both the Sago and Alma Mines, were forced to wait for a frustrating amount of time because the coal operators had to negotiate the question of liability before the rescue teams could enter the mines. We know that federal mine regulators have been aware of this liability problem since 1995, and that MSHA has not taken steps to address it, or to update and improve rules related to the number of rescue teams per mine and their ability to respond rapidly. The only recent effort to update these rules was halted by MSHA in 2002.

The Sago Mine was a habitual violator with 276 citations and orders issued in 2004 and 2005. The coal operator never paid a fine more than $440, even though mandatory health and safety standards were repeatedly violated. Meanwhile, MSHA assessed fines as low as $99 for violations that were classified as "significant and substantial" in threatening the safety and health of the miners at Sago.

MSHA has broad authority to protect coal miners, and the 1977 Mine Act is the strongest and most sweeping workplace safety law ever enacted in the United States, and, yet, even with these tools, the Mine Safety and Health Administration failed to protect the 14 miners who perished at the Sago and Alma Mines.

MSHA has the authority to require that secondary communications equipment be available in the event of an emergency. That authority was not used. It has the authority to require that emergency breathing devices be placed in the mines in the event of an extended recovery effort. That authority was not used. MSHA has the authority to penalize habitual violators, and to close those mines where pattern violations threaten a miner's life. That authority was not used.

MSHA is the federal agency charged with protecting coal miners, but it has scuttled 18 initiatives in the last five years to update and improve miner safety and emergency preparedness. Its leadership has embraced the status quo as good enough, and that attitude puts lives at risk.

In the past, mine disasters such as these have spurred tougher mine safety laws. The Farmington, West Virginia, disaster spurred the 1969 Coal Act, and subsequent disasters spurred the 1977 Mine Act. This time, the legacy of the Sago and Alma Mine disasters must be a tougher agency that will enforce the law.

Together with Senator Rockefeller and the West Virginia Delegation in the House, I am introducing legislation today that is a mandate for action. Our legislation does not amend the Mine Act. Our delegation takes the position that the Mine Act already provides the Labor Secretary with every authority necessary to prevent these kinds of tragedies. Instead, our legislation directs the Labor Secretary to employ the authorities of the Mine Act. It directs the Labor Secretary, within 90 days, to promulgate a series of health and safety rules aimed at improving mine safety enforcement and emergency preparedness.

It directs the Labor Secretary to establish a rapid notification and response system, and requires coal operators to expeditiously notify MSHA of emergencies. Any coal operator who fails to expeditiously notify federal mine safety officials, will be subject to a $100,000 fine. We must reduce the amount of time that is lost between a mine emergency and MSHA's notification and arrival on the scene.

Our legislation directs the Labor Secretary to reassess regulations that govern mine rescue teams to ensure that their numbers are sufficient, and that obstacles to their deployment are minimized. Mine rescue teams ought to be able to respond just as local fire department would respond to an emergency. It must not take 11 hours.

Our legislation requires coal operators to store additional emergency breathing supplies underground to sustain miners who may be trapped for an extended period. It requires the Labor Secretary to update and improve the rules governing emergency communications equipment that would allow miners underground to communicate with surface rescue efforts, and allow surface rescue efforts to locate miners underground. Never again should a miner lack access to a reasonable supply of oxygen underground or be unable to receive directions from the surface about escape routes.

On the enforcement side, our legislation requires the Labor Secretary to create a new $10,000 mandatory and minimum penalty for coal operators who display negligence or reckless disregard for safety standards. By negligence or reckless disregard, I am talking about coal operators who knew or should have known of a dangerous condition or practice, and failed to take the steps necessary to fix the problem, or who displayed conduct which exhibits a deplorable absence of care for the safety and health of the miners. If penalties are required in this kind of situation, then this statutory floor will help ensure that those penalties will hurt and hurt sufficiently to encourage violators to comply with the law.

Our legislation prohibits the use of belt entries for ventilation in contravention of an MSHA regulation issued in 2004, which likely played a part in the Alma fire.

Our legislation creates a science and technology office in the Labor Department to help expedite the introduction of the most advanced health and safety technologies into the mines, and to ensure that federal mine safety officials are actively pulling from other federal agencies those technologies that can help to protect miners. No longer should miners be sent underground with safety equipment that is decades out of date.

Our legislation creates the new position of ombudsman in the Labor Department's Inspector General office to allow miners to more easily report safety violations. To be effective, such a position requires the appointment and confirmation of someone with at least five years of expertise in mine safety and health. A miner should never have to feel that he has no options other than to continue to work in a dangerous environment.

I speak from the heart. I grew up in a coal miner's home. I married a coal miner's daughter. My brother-in-law died of black lung. His father was killed by a slate fall in a coal mine. For five years, the leadership in the Labor Department and the Mine Safety and Health Administration has worked against the health and safety needs of coal miners. If we must hold the hand of the Labor Department, and lead it like a stubborn and obstinate child, to force it to promulgate rules to implement the Mine Act and save lives, then that is exactly what we should do. If this Administration and MSHA will not lead, then this Congress must lead, and, if necessary, poke, prod, kick, and push MSHA into fulfilling its mandate.

At this late date, we need more than platitudes to protect the safety of our nation's miners. We need resources. We need swift action. We need to impress deeply upon the psyche of MSHA and the nation's coal mine operators that the safety of miners will not be compromised for personal profit or for politics.

Protecting the safety of our miners is a moral responsibility, and this legislation will help to make sure we never, ever, forget that.###

Meanwhile, we lost another coal miner, in Utah this time...the Salt Lake Tribune has the story. And, lest we forget, another miner, in a bulldozer accident in Oregon. These guys are miners too, and the number of non-coal mining deaths last year increased notably.

True Leadership Inspires Others To Follow

2006-01-30T15:55:00.000-05:00

W.Va. Governor Joe Manchin proposed and and state legislators quickly passed a series of laws last week to strengthen coal mine safety in light of the Sago and Alma disasters. Here's CBS on this and other developments.

West Virginia's aggressive leadership has prompted others to take action. Legislators in Illinois are moving to follow suit, reports WQAD-TV of Moline, Ill. Ohio is looking at doing something to strengthen state mine safety protections, too, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. And Pennsylvania, according to the Uniontown Herald-Standard.

Fantastic, some overnments are are taking action without waiting for a preventable death under their own jurisdiction -- an uncommon spectacle.

Meanwhile, after promising to do so since 2003, the federal Administration apparently has sent in proposed legislation to raise MSHA fines: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. MSHA also got its injunction MSHA requiring ICG to allow UMWA miners' representatives to accompany the mine investigators underground. (See CBS above.)

Also of note, the Courier-Journal is homing in on the subject of unpaid mine safety penalties, one issue that didn't get raised at last week's wide-ranging appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Civility Breaks Down on Sago Investigation?

2006-01-25T18:15:00.000-05:00

I covered the Monday Senate Appropriation subcommittee hearing on mine safety for Ellen Smith, publisher of Mine Safety and Health News. The hearing was marked by general agreement that we need to do more for miner safety. ICG Coal CEO Ben Hatfield, among others, testified.

But just got the word that conflict has broken out over the UMWA representing miners at the non-union mine for the purposes of the investigation.

"MSHA filed for an injunction against a subsidiary of International Coal Group today after the company prevented representatives from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) from entering the Sago Mine to assist in MSHA's investigation into the Jan. 2 accident there," Ellen reports. "MSHA recognizes UMWA representatives as a valid miner's representative."

Mine safety law provides for miners simply to designate a representative for federal mine safety purposes. The representative, who can participate in inspections and investigations on the miners' behalf, may be a fellow miner or another party.

Subscribers get occasional emails from Ellen with breaking news in addition to the biweekly newsletter. (Yes, this is a plug for my part-time employer.)

Sick At Heart

2006-01-22T16:44:00.000-05:00

I was going to write more this afternoon about technology...

...about how the PED (see "Lost In the Ground--Part 2") is just one of several devices that could help keep miners in touch and even track where they are so rescuers might narrow their search)...

...about seals that could do better in resisting explosions....

...about self-contained self-rescuers, and how it took 10 years after they were mandated to get them into the mines, and the shelf-life and maintenance issues with them that came up in the 1990's, and the market-based issues (few companies are interested in making them, given the limited profits)....

...about why it usually takes so long to develop new mine safety techology (some devices have been 'just around the corner' for years)....

A lot of this may be relevant to the appropriations hearing tomorrow.

But this morning's news (the two missing miners didn't make it)has left me sick at heart. I've just filed my routine stories and at this moment have nothing left with which to do more.

Lost In the Ground -- Part 1

2006-01-21T13:48:00.000-05:00

The words of the World War I poet, Wilfred Owen (1883-1918), have been haunting me for days. In memory of the miners at Sago and with hope yet remaining for the missing Aracoma miners, here is Owen's poem, "Miners":

There was a whispering in my hearth,
A sigh of the coal,
Grown wistful of a former earth
It might recall.

I listened for a tale of leaves
And smothered ferns,
Frond-forests, and the low sly lives
Before the fawns.

My fire might show steam-phantoms simmer
From Time's old cauldron,
Before the birds made nests in summer,
Or men had children.

But the coals were murmuring of their mine,
And moans down there
Of boys that slept wry sleep, and men
Writhing for air.

I saw white bones in the cinder-shard,
Bones without number.
For many hearts with coal are charred,
And few remember...

...Comforted years will sit soft-chaired,
In rooms of amber,
The years will stretch their hands, well-cheered
By our life's ember;

The centuries will burn rich loads
With which we groaned,
Whose warmth shall lull their dreaming lids,
While songs are crooned;
But they will not dream of us poor lads
Lost in the ground.
* * *

(Above, the poem is shortened by one verse, indicated by the dots, and it still stands on its own. But for those who are intrerested, here are the omitted lines:

I thought of all that worked dark pits
Of war, and died
Digging the rock where Death reputes
Peace lies indeed:
Owen wrote "Miners" after a coal mine disaster that happened while he was between tours of duty in Europe. He was killed in battle a few days before the Armistice.)