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ROCKEFELLER PROMOTES FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR MINE SAFETY TRAINING AND EDUCATION
~Brookwood-Sago Grant Program Included in 2006 MINER Act~
Washington, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller today urged eligible organizations to apply for funding through the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Brookwood-Sago Grant Program, which was created under the 2006 Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act.
This program, named in honor of both the miners who died tragically at Sago and those who died in the Jim Walter #5 explosion near Brookwood, Alabama, will provide funding for innovative training and education programs for employers and workers on mine safety and health topics.
“The MINER Act, which is a great example of what can happen when Congress works together, goes a long way toward better protecting our miners,” Rockefeller said. “This program is an enormously important component of the reforms we passed. And I encourage any eligible organization to apply so that through improved training and education, we can make even further strides toward greater mine safety across West Virginia.”
In total, MSHA is making $500,000 available for training and training materials, and the amount of each individual grant will be at least $50,000. States and public or private nonprofit organizations, including community-based and faith-based organizations, as well as state or local government-supported higher education institutions, are eligible to apply.
“We need to remain vigilant in our efforts to do what we can to prevent another mining tragedy from occurring,” Rockefeller said. “We’ve strengthened our mine safety standards on both the federal and state levels, but we also need to make sure that all of our miners are prepared for emergency situations – and this grant program is an incredible opportunity for us to reach that goal.”
Grant applications need to be submitted electronically by 4:30 p.m. on August 24, 2007 through www.grants.gov. On the website, applicants should click on Apply for Grants, then Download Application Package and then submit the CFDA Number – 17.603. For further information, those interested may contact Robert Glatter at (202) 693-9570.
As I've already mentioned, I subscribe to the mailing list of the National Mining Association's Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining, its "grassroots" (astroturf) group. http://www.actformining.com
Here's its description verbatim: Now more than ever the mining industry's employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders need to be informed and part of the solution. The National Mining Association's Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining (ACT) is a national network of individuals from the who recognize the importance of being involved in the political process and being informed about the public policy debates that are shaping the future of the mining industry in America.The Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining (www.actformining.com) provides users with the resources to learn about the issues important to the mining industry and the tools necessary to communicate with legislators at all levels of government.
Yep, and by subscribing you will also have the tools to fight the industry when they don't have our best interest at heart. (almost always). If you want their mailings ask for a sub from bkelley@nma.org.
Here's the group's latest Legislative Update. I quote it in full for your education below the fold. Here are the headlines:
"Mine Safety treads on dangerous ground in the House."--George Miller supplemental bill to the MINER Act of 2006
"Rahall to host coal-to-liquid conference with the CTLC"--includes a link on how to register. Protest anyone? Aug. 14-15 at the Glade Springs Resort in Beckley, W.Va.
"Hearings scheduled for the clean water protection act" --House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today and Thursday
"Buzz and Ballots" (pro-clt coverage at the Baltimore Sun and scientificblogging.com)
Regarding this last category, I think we should be writing letters to the editor to respond or op-eds. To facillitate this on the latter site, I've set up a column to comment on mtr and clt and mining legislation:
email me at beth_blog AT yahoo DOT com if you want me to post content there and if anyone can help me with the banner so it will stretch correctly, the original is here:
When the Republicans let the foxes safeguard the hen houses, no one should be surprised what happens. From Insurance Journal:
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.
snip
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.
snip
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.
Statement of AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on the United Mineworkers of America (UMW) New Report on the Sago Mine Disaster
A new report on the Sago mine disaster released today by the United Mineworkers confirms that the deaths of 12 miners at Sago on January 2, 2006 were unnecessary and totally preventable. These deaths were not due to some "act of God," but rather were the result of failures by mine management and the government.
The detailed, exhaustive report shows that substandard mine seals, lack of adequate oxygen, no safety chambers, no two-way communication, no tracking devices, and no onsite, experienced mine rescue teams all contributed to these tragic deaths. Many of these failures were years in the making. They were the result of decisions by the Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) to weaken legal requirements and by the Bush Administration to stop new, stronger rules on mine rescue teams, oxygen supplies and escape ways and mine refuges.
The Sago disaster and other mine disasters in 2006, which claimed a total of 47 lives, led Congress to enact the first improvements in the mine safety law in 30 years. Now we must ensure that these changes in the law translate quickly into improvements in safety in the nation's mines.
I commend the United Mineworkers for their leadership and dedication to protecting all of the nation's miners - whether they have a union or not - and their tireless efforts to see that the 12 men who died at Sago did not die in vain.
When you put the Republicans in charge of the government--a party that doesn't believe in the power of government--you end up with predictably disasterous results.
Just as the story of the loss of New Orleans is one of human failures to response to an Act of God, the loss of life at the Sago Mine disaster now appears to have been wholly preventable.
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