Feds warn 13 underground coal mines they are facing shutdown if they don't become safer

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has notified 13 underground coal mines that they have a pattern of safety violations that could lead to them beign closed if they don't shape up. "No mine has ever been placed on pattern of violation status, but MSHA has moved to beef up that process in the wake of an April explosion that killed 29 miners at a West Virginia mine," Bill Estep reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"That mine, the Upper Big Branch operation owned by Massey Energy, met the criteria to be the 14th on the list of potential pattern violators, but MSHA postponed action on that because it is still investigating the deadly explosion, according to a news release," Estep writes. A list of the 13 mines, in PDF form, is here. One of them, a Massey mine in Pike County, Kentucky, recently became the target of asn MSHA lawsuit seeking a shutdown for repeated violations. The list has three others in Kentucky and West Virginia, two in Tennessee and one each in Alabama, Illinois, Montana and Nevada. For MSHA's Excel spreadsheet with details on each mine, click here.

In their release, MSHA and Department of Labor officials sounded a tough tone. Joe Main, a former United Mine Workers official who runs MSHA as assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, said of special "impact" imnspections of repeat violators, "This screening represents a positive step forward, but it won't be the only step. . . . Once MSHA completes a thorough auditing, there may be more mines put on notice for a potential POV."

The special inspection process has used tougher tactics, such as taking control of mine phones so workers at the office can't warn foremen that inspectors are on the way down, Estep reports, noting that was done in the case of a Kentucky mine that is under a federal court order not to warn about inspections. (Read more)