May 11, 2010
Rahall Requests Emergency Funding for Mine Safety
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Washington, DC (HNN) – Rep. Nick J. Rahalll, D-WV on Monday, May 10 formally requested that the House Committee on Appropriations include emergency funding for mine safety in the supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010.
Below is the full text of the letter sent to the House Committee on Appropriations:
The Honorable Dave Obey
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
Room H-310, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Obey:
I write to request that the Committee on Appropriations make emergency funding of our nation’s mine safety needs a priority as it considers supplemental appropriations for fiscal 2010.
One of the glaring shortfalls in our nation’s mine safety regime has been the inability of the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to address its caseload in a timely fashion. In just the last four years, the backlog of cases at the Review Commission has ballooned from 2,100 to 16,600, as some mine operators have, in essence, gamed the system in a way that thwarts enforcement.
This backlog has led to delays in securing “final orders” that could have enabled the Mine Safety and Health Administration to make findings of “patterns of violations,” enabling the agency to take more stringent measures against mines with significant numbers of serious safety violations.
Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) Mine, where 29 miners died in an April 5, 2010, explosion, was one of 48 mines that MSHA has noted could have been subjected to these more severe enforcement measures – including shutdowns – had this backlog not existed at the Review Commission.
While it may be some time before investigations provide us with the an answer as to the exact cause of the recent tragedy at Massey’s UBB Mine, the notion that this backlog may have enabled the mine to evade sanctions calls for immediate and decisive action.
I urge the Committee to provide sufficient funding for Administrative Law Judges and for staff in the Department of Labor Solicitor’s office, to enable the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to work through its current caseload as expeditiously as possible and close off this avenue of enforcement evasion.
Additionally, I request that the Committee take into account any additional funding needs that the Labor Department or MSHA may need to conduct a complete and thorough investigation into the UBB mine disaster and prevent funds from being shifted away from critical inspections and enforcement duties.
We owe it to those 29 fallen miners, to their families, and to all miners who go to the mines each day to earn an honest living. Workers in America, in this day and age, should not have to risk their lives to put food on the family dinner table.
Thanking you for your kind consideration of this request, I am
Sincerely yours,
Nick J. Rahall
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Rahall Requests Emergency Funding for Mine Safety
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Washington, DC (HNN) – Rep. Nick J. Rahalll, D-WV on Monday, May 10 formally requested that the House Committee on Appropriations include emergency funding for mine safety in the supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010.
Below is the full text of the letter sent to the House Committee on Appropriations:
The Honorable Dave Obey
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
Room H-310, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Obey:
I write to request that the Committee on Appropriations make emergency funding of our nation’s mine safety needs a priority as it considers supplemental appropriations for fiscal 2010.
One of the glaring shortfalls in our nation’s mine safety regime has been the inability of the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to address its caseload in a timely fashion. In just the last four years, the backlog of cases at the Review Commission has ballooned from 2,100 to 16,600, as some mine operators have, in essence, gamed the system in a way that thwarts enforcement.
This backlog has led to delays in securing “final orders” that could have enabled the Mine Safety and Health Administration to make findings of “patterns of violations,” enabling the agency to take more stringent measures against mines with significant numbers of serious safety violations.
Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (UBB) Mine, where 29 miners died in an April 5, 2010, explosion, was one of 48 mines that MSHA has noted could have been subjected to these more severe enforcement measures – including shutdowns – had this backlog not existed at the Review Commission.
While it may be some time before investigations provide us with the an answer as to the exact cause of the recent tragedy at Massey’s UBB Mine, the notion that this backlog may have enabled the mine to evade sanctions calls for immediate and decisive action.
I urge the Committee to provide sufficient funding for Administrative Law Judges and for staff in the Department of Labor Solicitor’s office, to enable the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to work through its current caseload as expeditiously as possible and close off this avenue of enforcement evasion.
Additionally, I request that the Committee take into account any additional funding needs that the Labor Department or MSHA may need to conduct a complete and thorough investigation into the UBB mine disaster and prevent funds from being shifted away from critical inspections and enforcement duties.
We owe it to those 29 fallen miners, to their families, and to all miners who go to the mines each day to earn an honest living. Workers in America, in this day and age, should not have to risk their lives to put food on the family dinner table.
Thanking you for your kind consideration of this request, I am
Sincerely yours,
Nick J. Rahall
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
