Brad Johnson at Think Progress has found that the West Virginia coal operation where at least 25 miners have died was cited for 3007 violations by the Mine Safety and Health Administration between 1995 and last month. After an annual average of about 175 citations each year, MSHA cited the Upper Big Branch-South Mine 516 times in 2009. And while Joe Main, the former coal miner who now heads MSHA, didn't take over until he was confirmed by the Senate in late October, that increase in citations appears to reflect a new attitude at the chronically underfunded safety agency.
In addition to the citations:
Over $2.2 million in fines have been assessed against Massey’s Upper Big Branch-South Mine since 1995, with $791,327 paid. Massey is contesting $1,128,833 in fines. Massey’s delinquent fines total $246,320. [MSHA]
Massey is contesting $251,613 in fines for citations for Upper Big Branch-South Mine’s ventilation plan. [MSHA]
Compare those fines to coal mine owner Don Blankenship's compensation package of $19.7 million in 2008. He could pay those assessments out of the change in his sock drawer. He fights them and runs a delinquent account instead.
With Joe Main running MSHA, operations like Blankenship's are likely to come under far more serious scrutiny. That's no help to the miners who lost their lives Monday nor any comfort to their kin and friends. But it could mean future accidents-waiting-to-happen are prevented. Main began mining in 1967, the year before the Farmington, W. Va., disaster that killed 78 miners pushed Congress to establish MSHA in the first place. His career since then made him an excellent choice for the slot President Obama chose him. He was a big change from George Bush's choice of Department of Labor foxes to guard the hen house, including MSHA chief Dick Stickler of the injury-plagued Beth Energy mines.
Esther Kaplan recently wrote:
[Joe Main] was working for the union at the time of the Wilberg fire and rushed to the scene. He recalls spending four or five days there during the grueling rescue and recovery operation. "It took us a year to recover the last miner," he recalls, "and I dealt with the families a lot during that time. It's something that's stayed with me my whole life."
When Main was nominated last July, McClatchy reported:
"It's going to be frustrating having somebody with an agenda that is pro-union," said Bill Caylor, the president of the Kentucky Coal Association. "We're not looking forward to it."
More than a century of coal-mine organizing, and the owners still talk like that. And the miners still die.
[h/t to magnifico]
