Mining
sb admin | October 23, 2008By Nathan Fetty
This is a slightly different post to the Pump Handle, mixing in some visuals.
Thereâs a route I often drive here in West Virginia that, not surprisingly, takes me through a lot of coal mining territory. Along this route, coal miners are rushing to and from work, and big coal trucks scream down the mountain roads as they get a run to pull the steep grades ahead. Conveyor belts are humming at a large preparation plant.
But one thing that strikes me every time is that thereâs a sign for âambulance entranceâ at several of the mines. For example:
Â
Now donât get me wrong â Iâm…
sb admin | October 15, 2008The United Steelworkers (USW) and the United Mine Workers (UMWA) have sent letters to Asst. Secretary of Labor Richard Stickler asking for additional hearings and a longer public comment period for its proposed rule on mandatory drug and alcohol testing for workers in the mining industry. In one press account, the public hearings yesterday were called a "Logistical Nightmare."  In the USW's letter, HSE Director Mike Wright wrote:
"...hundreds of witnesses were effectively prevented from testifying in Birmingham and other locations even though they were present on the site -- or more…
sb admin | October 9, 2008"American Coal Co. repeatedly demonstrated its failure to comply with basic safety laws over a number of months, and for that it must be held accountable."Â (Asst. Secretary of Labor for MSHA Richard Stickler)
Yesterday, MSHA issued a news release announcing that the operator of the Galatia Mine in Saline County, Illinois was receving $1.46 million in penalties for scores of safety and health violations it's wracked up over the last year. The underground coal mine is owned by American Coal Company, a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp--the same corporate controller of the Utah Crandall…
sb admin | October 8, 2008By Nathan Fetty
Every so often, my wife and I take our daughter, whoâs now two-and-a-half, on one of our favorite walks in the country here in central West Virginia. To get there, unfortunately, we have to pass by torrents of orange acid mine drainage (photo examples here and here) and through a landscape brutalized by mining. But the woods and streams beyond this devastation are as prime as any in West Virginia. Thatâs why we keep going there. We want our child to know these kinds of special places.
Our daughterâs becoming more and more verbal. She loves to point out things as sheâs…
sb admin | September 29, 2008Despite a short 30-day comment period, dozens of interested individuals and organizations provided comments to Asst. Secretary Leon Sequeira about his proposed so-called risk assessment policy. I've pulled some of my favorite excerpts for your consideration:
"The proposed rule is a parting gift from an outgoing administration to its supporters in industry and should be withdrawn." (Public Citizen, full comments here)
"The Asst Secretary for Policy has no legal authority to issue this proposal or to finalize it. ...The authorities granted to him all involve performing economic reports and…
sb admin | September 29, 2008The Labor Department has rejected calls from numerous public interest groups and even the chairman of its legislative oversight committee to conduct public hearings and extend the time period to provide feedback on its worker health risk assessment proposal. That means that today, Monday, September 29 is the final day to submit comments on the Assistant Secretary for Policy Leon Sequeira's proposed changes to OSHA's and MSHA's risk assessment practices. He sent identical letters dated September 25 to Congressman George Miller (D-CA) (here), Prof. Rena Steinzor (here), and probably…
sb admin | September 29, 2008Updated below: 9/29/08 5:00 pm
Over the last year, Matthew Faraci has served as the MSHA spokesman, providing official statements, for example, about the Crandall Canyon investigation, touting the Agency's progress implementing the MINER Act, and defending the Administration's request for an additional $19 million for MSHA.  In fact, Faraci even organized a media briefing so that agency officials could explain why the requested budget increase "would provide MSHA with the vital resources it needs to help protect miners' safety and health."Â
So, it was a bit jarring to find the…
sb admin | September 22, 2008During a recent one-on-one interview with the Charleston Gazette, MSHA chief Richard Stickler said his agency will not be issuing more protective health standards to protect miners from coal workers' pnuemoconiosis during his tenure. In Ken Ward's article (Sept 14), Stickler says:
"There's no way I'm going to get that done with what I have on my plate."
So, here we are, 12 years after a federal advisory committee recommended an overhaul of the regulations to protect coal miners from developing black lung disease, and we are still no closer to having a more health-protective rule on the…
sb admin | August 28, 2008Will someone just go and put up a sign "Proudly Screwing Workers: 2,827 Straight Days" on the Labor Department building?Â
Late yesterday I learned that Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Asst. Secretary Leon Sequeira and her other political minions sent a proposed rule to the Federal Register which will change the process by which OSHA and MSHA assess workers' risk to health-harming contaminants.Â
The proposed rule confirms Chao's desire to make it more cumbersome and time-consuming for OSHA and MSHA to issue health-protective standards. It mandates, for example, that the agencies issue…
sb admin | August 27, 2008by Tom Bethell
(Posted with permission from The Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg, KY)
Just when you think youâve seen it all, somebody in the Bush administration comes up with another way to compromise somebody elseâs rights. The latest example is Richard Stickler, director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
MSHA has been much in the news since 2006. Coal miners have suffered a string of disasters â Sago, Aracoma Alma, Kentucky Darby, Crandall Canyon â that might have been avoided or mitigated if MSHA since 2001 had stuck to its congressionally mandated job, which is law enforcement. But…
sb admin | August 26, 2008Hmph!  I just read on the OMB/OIRA website that they have completed their review of Labor Secretary Chao's proposal to change the way that OSHA and MSHA assess workers' risk of health hazards. The OIRA website notice says their review was completed on August 25, and it was approved "consistent with change."Â
Well, I guess I didn't really expect Secretary Chao or one of her political associates to call me personally to discuss the August 14 letter that 80 public health scientists sent to her. In that letter, we urged Elaine Chao to withdraw her proposal from OMB review. I…
sb admin | August 24, 2008Imagine being an MSHA inspector and being asked by independent investigators for your honest and frank opinion about the events surrounding the August 2007 disaster at the Crandall Canyon mine, which took the lives of nine men. You decide to participate because you genuinely believe in MSHA's mission---enforcing safety and health laws to protect miners' lives---and hope that your insight will help to improve the agency's ability to do just that.Â
Imagine now a sucker-punch in your gut as you learn that the transcript of your confidential interview has been read by your boss' boss' boss…
sb admin | August 12, 2008Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, her Solicitor and other political operatives in DOL continue to dismiss requests from Cong. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) for documents related to the development of her draft risk assessment proposal. The latest non-response, dated Aug 5, refers five times to the almighty "deliberative process" as a reason for refusing to disclose information related to the outside contractors who were involved in its development. That's just plain hogwash.
If you look closely at Congress' request for records, they ask for:
a list of all…
sb admin | August 7, 2008by Nathan Fetty
An editorial in today's New York Times is the latest media piece about the abysmal failures surrounding last summer's Crandall Canyon mine disaster in Utah. Now that investigators have revealed how the company knew of the mine's dangers, the Times says, a criminal probe is in order. Plus, MSHA's deference to the company's flawed engineering plan only made matters worse.
Clearly, as the Times points out, MSHA's aversion to hands-on enforcement has led to disastrous consequences.
The New York Times'Â editorial: Greed Above, Death Below or (full PDF) reminds readers of why a…
sb admin | August 5, 2008Tom Bethell of The Mountain Eagle urges us (and policymakers) to read the independent investigation of MSHA and the Crandall Canyon disaster, by two former MSHA District Managers, to understand how the Secretary of Labor's demand for 'compliance assistance' programs set the groundwork for the deadly workplace conditions for our nation's mine workers.Â
Posted with permission from The Mountain Eagle (Whitesburg, KY), "Destined to Fail"
by Tom Bethell
Exactly a year ago â on August 6, 2007 â the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah caved in, trapping six coal miners. Here in eastern Kentucky weâre…
sb admin | July 31, 2008Congressman George Miller (D-CA) along with 11 co-sponsors introduced a bill yesterday (H.R. 6660) to prohibit Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao from issuing her proposed rule mandating new requirements for health risk assessments prepared by MSHA and OSHA. The Congressman's statement accompanying the bill makes plain his disdain for the Bush Administration's 7 1/2 year assualt on workers' rights and protections.  Miller promises:
"This Congress will not stand for the further weakening of worker protections, particularly when it's done in secret--as this Administration heads out of town."Â…
sb admin | July 29, 2008Thanks to Carol Leonnig at the Washington Post and her confidential sources, we can see the true measure of Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao's disrespect for U.S. workers, embodied in her proposed rule on risk assessement. I blogged first about this "secret rule" on July 8, with follow-ups (here and here), but the challenge for advocates of worker rights and public health is articulating why this issue is important: How might it affect protections for my husband's health, my sister's health, my neighbor's health.
My friend and retired Department of Labor colleague Pete Galvin, who just…
sb admin | July 25, 2008"Destined to fail." That is the troubling conclusion of MSHA's 12-month investigation of the coal mine disaster at the Crandall Canyon coal mine that killed nine men last August. They were: Kerry Allred, 58; Dale Black, 48; Don Erickson, 50; MSHA's Gary Jensen, 53; Brandon Kimber, 29; Luis Hernandez, 23; Brandon Phillips, 24; Carlos Payan, 22; and Manuel Sanchez, 41. It is terribly disturbing to realize how these families' lives would so be different today, had someone made the conclusion "destined to fail" before these engineering plans were being develop and approved.
Mike Gorrell…
sb admin | July 23, 2008Following The Pump Handle's July 8 post "Secret Rule on OSHA Risk Assessment" (and July 10 here), a front-page Washington Post article provides more details on the Bush Administration's plan to "reform" the system used by OSHA and MSHA to assess workers' risk from toxic materials. In U.S. Rushes to Change Workplace Toxin Rules, Post reporter Carol Leonnig obtained a draft copy of the proposed rule, which would direct the risk assessment assumptions and procedures used by MSHA and OSHA when developing regulations to protect workers health hazards. Leonnig reports that Bush…
sb admin | July 8, 2008I found the most curious item on OMB OIRA's webpage today, and my paranoia about end-of-the-term mischief by the Bush Administration kicked into high gear. The item is listed as a proposed rule submitted to OIRA for review on July 7 titled:
"Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of Occupational Health Risks" (RIN: 1290-AA23)Â (Link here, select DOL) or (screenshot)
Whenever the term risk assessment is uttered by the Bush Admininstration, I know they are up to no good. Recall their earlier effort at a major overhaul of agency's risk assessment procedures; this was a proposal that…