Mining regulators asked Congress for heftier tools to enforce safety laws at a hearing Tuesday before a Senate committee.
The hearing was the first to be held since the April 5 explosion at a West Virginia mine, owned by Massey Energy, that killed 29 workers. From The New York Times:
Joseph A. Main, who leads the Mine Safety and Health Adminstration, said too many mining companies appealed violations rather than corrected the problem.
“The current system provides a financial benefit for delaying tactics,” Mr. Main said, adding that regulators have compounded the problem by failing to close mines that repeatedly violate safety rules.
To reduce stalling, he proposed requiring that penalties be paid into escrow before appeals were settled. He said his agency should have subpoena power to promptly obtain company documents, and called for strengthening criminal penalties to make the threat of jail time real. Listen to the full committee hearing here.
Separately, an analysis by USA Today found that despite declining injury rates in U.S. mines, the severity of injuries may be on the rise. According to the report:
Related: Coal Company Fought to Keep Regulators at BayFrom 2001 to 2008, the average injury cost a miner 48 days of missed work or restricted duty as he recovered from such trauma as an amputated limb, a broken bone, or a lost eye, according to Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) records. That figure is up 45% from the years 1983 to 2000, when the average injury resulted in 33 days of missed regular duty.”
