Comment: Mining is mining but when it kills people because all the regulations were ignored by the state and the federal level - well, it is beyond words, well maybe not, it is called murder. So people of Virginia when the local yokel uranium bunch says there are strict environmental laws to protect us, just yell at them the following statement: "29 People dead, Upper Big Branch Mine"! Pray for the families of the miners!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Mailbox for April 9
By James R. Carroll
WASHINGTON — Since 2006 the West Virginia mine where 29 miners were killed last week has been fined more than $1.7 million for safety violations — yet more than $1.1 million of that has gone unpaid because of appeals by mine owner Massey Energy, a Courier-Journal analysis has found.
In addition, the Upper Big Branch Mine has been delinquent in paying more than $264,000 in outstanding fines, records show.
Massey’s appeals are part of a growing industry backlog of approximately 16,000 cases that some safety advocates contend could be allowing unsafe mines to continue operating.
Massey Energy appealed more Mine Safety and Health Administration citations against its mines in 2009 than any other coal company, according to a separate analysis prepared earlier this year for the House Education and Labor Committee and obtained by The Courier-Journal.
Massey contested 3,741 violations last year, accounting for 8 percent of all contested violations among the 40 companies with the largest numbers of appeals, the House data showed.
If the company were to lose its appeals, it would have to pay $10.5 million in fines for the 2009 violations. That represents 17 percent of the $60.8 million in proposed penalties among the companies with the most appeals.
On Friday, Massey Energy issued a general statement defending its safety record at the mine.
“The safety of our members has been and will continue to be our top priority every day,” the company said. “We do not condone any violation of … (MSHA) regulations, and we strive to be in compliance with all regulations at all times.”
Industry appeals of federal safety violations have skyrocketed in the last few years, swamping the appeals process and postponing the payment of penalties.
Main said the backlog has allowed coal operators with repeat safety violations to continue mining while endangering miners.
But Celeste Monforton, a George Washington University public health professor and former MSHA staffer, said some operators are using the appeals to avoid warnings that they have a “pattern of violations,” which can subject a mine to a shutdown.
That determination can be made only after appeals are ended, which can be years after the original violation occurred.
“Due process is an important part of our system, but when people game the system for the purpose of avoiding oversight and consequences, then due process has been abused,” Monforton said.
The Upper Big Branch Mine should have been on a special watch list that would have shut down any section of the operation for even one additional serious safety violation, said Tony Oppegard, a Lexington attorney who is a former Kentucky and federal mine safety official.
He and the Appalachian Citizens Law Center in Prestonsburg are writing a letter to MSHA urging it to rewrite the “pattern of violations” regulation — which Oppegard said has been used only once in 33 years — to give it more teeth.
“In retrospect, yes, it should have been shut down,” she said. “It worries me what other ones are out there and what are the tools MSHA is using to identify them.”
An analysis by MSHA showed that sections of the West Virginia mine were ordered closed temporarily for safety violations 61 times since the beginning of 2009.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., issued a statement Friday blistering Massey’s safety record.
Massey Energy said that since January 2009, the Upper Big Branch mine averaged fewer than one violation per day of inspection by MSHA. That is a rate consistent with national averages, the company said.
“Most of the citations issued by MSHA to (the mine) in the last year were resolved on the same day they were issued,” Massey said.
Upper Big Branch’s most frequent violations involved excessive coal dust, mine ventilation and roof control problems — all among the most serious safety issues in coal mining.
Since January 2006, the mine was cited for excessive accumulations of coal dust 155 times, for a total of $308,048 in penalties, MSHA records show. Excessive dust was the most frequent safety violation at the mine, with 11 issued this year.
Coal dust can be the source of explosions in certain concentrations, and it can feed explosions from other sources.
Massey is contesting 58 of those citations totaling $232,906 in potential fines. The company also is delinquent in paying $9,413 in fines for 11 dust violations in 2008, MSHA records show.
Oppegard said the repeated coal dust violations were a warning signal.
“There’s no excuse for any (dust) accumulation violations in a mine, because all it is is laziness,” he said. “Whenever you see multiple accumulations violations, it’s a clear sign you have an operator unconcerned about safety.”
The second most frequent safety problem at Upper Big Branch over the last four years involved mine-ventilation violations. The mine was cited 87 times for ventilation violations, for total fines of $371,509. Ventilating a mine is critical to reducing toxic and explosive gases such as methane.
Upper Big Branch also was cited 75 times since 2006 for violations of roof-support regulations. Those penalties total $142,002.
Massey is appealing 33 of those — totaling $78,955 — and is delinquent in paying six additional fines totaling $17,212 for roof-support violations.
Monforton said the repeated violations for the same safety issues at Massey reflected “a culture of profit which far overshadows any rhetoric that’s on their Web site about how much they care about mine workers.”
Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
Read more:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100410/NEWS01/4110313/1008/rss01
