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Via Ken Ward Jr. at Coal Tattoo, The New York Times has an editorial praising President Obama for taking action.
Over the years, the federal government has done far less than it should - and far less than the law requires - to guarantee the safety of Appalachia's miners. So it was a welcome break with grim history when the Labor Department asked a federal judge last week to shut down a Kentucky mine owned by the Massey Energy Company. The mine has been cited for about 700 safety violations this year alone.
Massey is also the owner of the violation-plagued Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, where a methane explosion killed 29 workers in April. The company is reportedly the object of two grand jury investigations in connection with that disaster.
What makes last week's complaint particularly interesting is that it is the first time the federal government has moved to close a mine since it was given that authority under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 33 years ago.
Don Blankenship wants to be able to put profits over the lives of people and it's going to cost the company still more money. Perhaps Massey shareholders should have dumped Blankenship long ago, but until they have an executive in place that recognizes rules are meant to be followed their mines should all be shut down. They are supposed to be coal mines, not death traps.
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