August 17, 2007
Mining Tragedy Shows Legislation Not A Quick Fix
In June 2006, President Bush signed into law Congress' response to the Sago disaster in West Virginia, which claimed the lives of 12 miners. The MINER Act [PDF], Bush promised, would "enhance mine safety training... improve safety and communications technology for miners and provide more emergency supplies of breathable air along escape routes." The law was designed to provide the nation's 350,000 mine workers with as many safeguards as possible in one of the world's most dangerous industries.
Flanked by bipartisan supporters of the bill, Bush also announced he was nominating Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA. The president touted Stickler's record as one-time head of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, but did not mention that the nominee had spent more time as a coal company executive.
Several weeks later, it became clear that Stickler wouldn't get through the GOP-dominated Senate. So in October, Bush installed Stickler as head of MSHA while Congress was out for recess. By then, the nation was transfixed on the November midterm election. The recess appointment went largely unnoticed.
Now that another tragedy has befallen mine workers, this time in Utah, expect Congress to take up the mine-safety issue again. Industry experts warned a few months ago that another Sago disaster could happen this year. Tragically, that prediction has come true.
"We have suspended indefinitely the underground portion of this effort," Stickler said at a press conference today. Addressing questions about how carefully yesterday's rescue effort was managed, Stickler insisted, "We had put in the strongest ground support system that is available and practical to use."
Adding that MSHA had consulted with experts at West Virginia University and elsewhere, Stickler continued, "We all agreed that the plan we developed and implemented provided the maximum safety for our workers that we knew to be available. Obviously, it was not adequate."
The Utah disasters may force renewed scrutiny of Stickler. In February, the House Committee on Education and Labor reported [PDF] that the MINER Act was being implemented too slowly. Blaming "delays by MSHA in providing guidance," the committee concluded that "deficiencies in federal requirements that contributed to" the 2006 mining tragedies "remain real threats to miners."
And in March, the president of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil Roberts, gave this eerily prescient testimony [PDF] before the House committee: "Many miners caught in a disaster would likely have one additional hour of oxygen as opposed to early 2006, but keep in mind that it took 40 hours for the first mine rescue teams to reach the mines at Sago."
The six workers trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine have been missing for 12 days. Last night, three more workers were killed -- including one MSHA employee -- and six injured in a failed rescue attempt. Stickler spoke of the trapped miners as if they were still alive, but it seems clear that yesterday's cave-in will end efforts to reach the six trapped miners underground.
Technological advancements have done little to mitigate the dangers of mining, one of the most risk-fraught occupations today. But mining also offers relatively lucrative pay without requiring a college degree, making it an attractive job prospect in some parts of the country.
In Utah, miners made an average of more than $62,000 last year, the Deseret Morning News reports. Disasters have befallen central Utah mining communities before. And while residents are hardly shocked by tragedies like the one playing out now, there are signs native Utahns are abandoning the trade. Migrants from Latin and Central America are filling the void, Reuters reports, and three of the trapped workers are reportedly Latinos.
Another group of foreigners may also be eyeing the developments in Utah closely. China may have the world's worst record on mine safety, with 4,746 fatalities last year compared with fewer than 50 in the U.S. Cave-ins, explosions and fires are a fairly regularly occurrence, and workers more or less are the canaries in the coal mine. Under pressure from the usually cautious Chinese media, officials there are taking steps to improve safety for miners.
Scrutiny is already befalling the president and CEO of the company that owns the mine, Bob Murray. As with the owner of the Sago mine, Murray has sought to deflect accountability for the Utah disaster. A few assessments of Murray's performance can be found here and here.
Posted at 1:47 PM
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Asia, Bush Administration, China, Congress, President Bush
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