March 2007: MSHA Moves Too Slowly on Mine Safety, Another Sago Possible

[babylonsister]

MSHA Moves Too Slowly on Mine Safety, Another Sago Possible

by Mike Hall, Mar 1, 2007

Last year, after disasters killed 12 West Virginia coal miners in the Sago Mine, five Kentucky coal miners at Darby and eventually claimed 47 lives in all, Congress passed the first new mine safety legislation in decades.

But while the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006 mandates several important mine safety improvements, its implementation has been far too slow and it doesn’t go far enough to protect miners’ lives, witnesses told a Senate hearing yesterday.

The new law, says Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts:

would do little to change matters today if a mine were to experience an explosion like the one at Sago or a mine fire like the one at Alma…underground miners would likely fare no better than those who perished over one year ago.

Roberts was among those appearing yesterday before the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee. Also testifying: J. Davitt McAteer, former head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in the Clinton administration, Richard Stickler, President Bush’s controversial recess appointment to MSHA’s top spot and others.

Roberts says since last year’s law was passed, the Bush administration has shown no concentrated effort in addressing problems, ranging from mine rescue teams to underground communications and lack of additional oxygen units. In addition, he points to several vital safety issues the legislation didn’t address.

more...

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/03/01/msha-moves-too-slowly-on-mine-safety-another-sago-possible/

[Metta]

1. Bush's boy Stickler is the Brownie of MSHA.

... guilty of murder through his purposeful negligence. He isn't moving on the law because his bosses don't want him to. They're accessories to murder.