After 47 Coal Mine Deaths, Will Stickler Keep Safety Promise?

by Mike Hall, Dec 20, 2006

Twenty-six-year-old John Elliot is the 47th coal miner killed on the job this year—the deadliest year in the nation’s coal mines since 1995. The Newburg, W.Va., miner was killed when part of the roof collapsed Dec 17 at Dana Mining Co.’s Prime No. 1 Mine near Maidsville, W.Va.

The Associated Press reports that in the past three years the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has cited the Dana mine 27 times for roof violations.

The soaring coal mine death toll—including the Jan. 2 explosion that killed 12 workers at the Sago Mine—and President Bush’s stubborn fight to name a coal industry insider to lead MSHA put the public spotlight on the issue of coal mine safety for the first time in years.

Earlier this year, when coal mine fatalities were in the 30s and after an intense effort by the Mine Workers and family survivors of mine victims, Congress toughened coal mine safety regulations. The new Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to move to further strengthen mine safety laws.

Bush signed the new law, but fought Congressional opposition to his choice of Richard Stickler, a former Massey Coal Co. executive, to head MSHA. The injury rates at coal mines managed by Stickler from 1989 to 1996 were double the national average, according to statistics assembled by the Mine Workers before Stickler’s appointment to head the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety.

When the Senate refused to confirm Stickler’s nomination, Bush used a recess appointment to put him in charge of MSHA.

Jordan Barab at Confined Space excerpts a Charleston Gazette editorial that compliments Stickler on his promises to improve mine safety:

So far, he’s saying all the right things. He speaks plainly and sensibly about safety and the need for change. He promises a crackdown on operators who chronically break safety rules.

If Stickler follows through on his promises, coal miners will have a better chance of walking out the mines alive and healthy after their shifts. But Barab—who like most workplace safety experts and advocates strenuously opposed Stickler’s nomination—cautions:

Time will tell. Personally, I’d rather be proven wrong by a bad nominee proving himself to be surprisingly good than the other way around.

 

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