Federal inspectors missed obvious problems and failed to follow procedures before three high-profile accidents that killed 19 men at underground coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky last year, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
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An internal accountability office will be created along with numerous other steps to make sure such lapses are not repeated, the agency said.
The moves follow reviews of MSHA's actions before the Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 men in northern West Virginia on Jan. 2, 2006, a conveyer belt fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in southern West Virginia 17 days later and an explosion that killed five more miners at the Darby Mine in Kentucky on May 20, 2006.
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he agency also has asked the Department of Labor to investigate potential misconduct by MSHA inspectors. The agency reported finding several instances of questionable conduct by inspectors assigned to the Alma mine, which is owned by Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co.
"MSHA's internal review teams identified a number of deficiencies in our enforcement programs, which I found deeply disturbing,'' director Richard Stickler said. Creating an Office of Accountability would strengthen "oversight, at the highest level in the agency, to ensure that we are doing our utmost to enforce safety and health laws in our nation's mines,'' he said.
MSHA found that didn't always happen at Alma, Sago or Darby.
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Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., called the errors "outrageous'' and said he hopes "corrective actions in the field meet the optimistic rhetoric'' issued Thursday. Rahall, whose district includes the Alma mine, was particularly critical of the agency's inaction in southern West Virginia.
"MSHA should have known that its system in the southern district of West Virginia was teetering dangerously,'' Rahall said. "It should have taken stiff corrective action long before.''
When today's Republicans hold power, they do everything in their power to roll back safety regulations and to put industry-friendly people in charge of the safety agencies. Those inspectors who try to hold safety violators accountable are overruled, ignored or worse.
