Mine Blast Probe Moves Forward, Massey Energy Sues MSHA over Ventilation Rules

by Mike Hall, Jun 28, 2010

This memorial in Whitesville, W.Va., honors the 29 coal miners killed in the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch explosion.

Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine, where 29 West Virginia miners were killed in an April 5 explosion, is now safe enough for Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigators to begin their underground inspection of the mine.

Both MSHA and the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training will conduct the underground investigation to try to determine the exact causes of the explosion.

Meanwhile, six Massey subsidiaries filed suit in federal court last week claiming MSHA does not have the authority to reject a mine’s ventilation plan. Proper ventilation is essential to a mine’s safety. The Massey subsidiary that operates Upper Big Branch is not a party to the suit.

An MSHA spokesman told BNA’s Daily Labor Report (subscription required) that the agency wouldn’t comment on pending litigation but finds Massey’s “timing and substance of some of the arguments curious.”

But at Upper Big Branch, all indications are that the blast was caused by the extremely combustible combination of high levels of explosive methane and coal dust. According to MSHA’s preliminary report on the blast, the Massey mine was cited 32 times for violations involving, methane, coal dust and other combustible materials between Jan. 1 and the day of the blast. It  also had been cited for failure to develop and follow a ventilation plan. If proper procedures had been followed, would the explosion have been prevented? It’s impossible to say with certainty but, as the MSHA report says:

When methane and coal dust levels are controlled, explosions from these sources can be prevented. Explosions in coal mines are preventable. Mine operators use methane drainage and adequate ventilation to minimize methane concentrations. Operators can add sufficient rock dust to counter the explosive potential of coal dust.

Also last week, a report by the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that under a Bush administration policy, some mines with histories of safety violations were not placed into a program designed to monitor serial safety violators.

The OIG investigation was triggered when it was revealed that in October 2009, a computer error excluded the Upper Big Branch mine from being notified that it was potentially eligible to be placed in what is called “Pattern of Violation” status. Pattern of Violation status triggers more frequent inspections and provides MSHA with greater authority over mine operations.

Following the report, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and other lawmakers asked for an investigation into the Pattern of Violation program.

The OIG report found that between 2007, when the Bush administration issued new Pattern of Violation policies that allowed MSHA administrators to remove mines from the list of potential Pattern of Violation operations, and 2009, 21 mines were removed from the screening lists. Some, according to the report, were removed for “reasonable” justifications.

But 10 of those were removed because of a March 2009 directive from MSHA’s Coal Mine Safety and Health administrator Kevin Stricklin, who directed MSHA field staff to limit the number of Pattern of Violation  warnings to only three mines per district, no matter how many might actually have met Pattern of Violation criteria. The directive said the “guidance was necessary to address resource limitations.”

The OIG report says, “This instruction set a limit that was inappropriate for this enforcement program.”

MSHA chief Joe Main, who wasn’t confirmed for the post until October 2009 because Republican senators blocked dozens of Obama appointments, said in statement last week:

The more one looks at the Pattern of Violation system we inherited, the more problems one finds. That’s why, in April, we announced that we’d be rewriting the Pattern of Violation rules this year. We’re also conducting a review of the internal policies that govern Pattern of Violations so we can begin to change the way we deal with persistently problematic mines this year…we remain committed to doing whatever it takes to fix this badly broken system.

AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director Peg Seminario says that may take some time.

This is a remnant of Bush administration policies. There are many bad policies and practices that were put into place at both MSHA and [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] OSHA that unfortunately will take years to turn around and undo.

Miller also noted the report “raises questions about whether MSHA districts have sufficient resources to enforce the law.”

		Become a Fan on Facebook			Follow Us on Twitter			Subscribe to YouTube			Subscribe to Blog RSS

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (3)