Mining companies have used the court to fend off new, tougher regulations, The New York Times reports. Massey Energy Company, which owns the Upper Big Branch mine where an explosion killed at least 25 workers on Monday, appealed at least 37 of 50 safety violations it received last year, according to the Times.
At a hearing in February, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, complained that the growing number of appeals by coal companies threatened to “render the federal efforts to hold mine operators accountable meaningless.” Mining safety experts have expressed similar concerns.
One in four citations issued against coal mines are now appealed by operators — three times the appeal rate before the law, according to regulators. The result is a backlog of 18,000 pending appeals and $210 million in contested penalties.
The Times also describes Massey’s controversial ties to several judges.
A Forbes blog also commented on Massey’s history of violations, citing a 2003 profile of Massey Chief Executive, Don Blankenship. “We don’t pay much attention to the violation count,” Blankenship told Forbes.
Read a Times editorial about Massey’s safety record.
Related: Mine Rescue Suspended as Death Toll Reaches 25
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