The Obama administration may get a chance to follow through on its pledge for increased government transparency when deciding on the format for Mine Safety and Health Administration investigations of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners last week. MSHA has traditionally closed investigative interviews to the public but usually allowed coal-company lawyers in, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette writes on his Coal Tattoo blog.
"The only good argument for secrecy in these interviews is that allowing openness tips off the company to the direction investigators are headed, allowing them to thwart things like potential criminal prosecution down the road," Ward writes. "But if the company lawyers are in the room, well, what’s the point of the secrecy?" Miners who are being interviewed are allowed to bring attorneys, and companies have been successful in convincing them it's best to use company representation. But when investigators try to get miners to provide information that may not be in the company's interests, the attorneys face a conflict of interest, Ward writes.
MSHA can invoke its federal authority to conduct the investigation through a public hearing, which would also give the agency subpoena power, but it has seldom used that authority. Ward points to the current administration as one reason the policy might change: "President Barack Obama has promised to get answers to what caused this mine disaster, and his administration has made a very big deal about its commitment to transparency," he writes. (Read more)
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