New West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's main legislative response to the April 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster is mandatory drug testing for coal miners, even though the state's deputy mine-safety director told legislators this week that drug use wasn't a factor in the disaster, reports Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette. The state's Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training hasn't released its report about the disaster, but independent reports from special state investigator Davitt McAteer, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the United Mine Workers didn't mention drug use.
"Investigative reports released to date generally agree that the Upper Big Branch disaster was caused by Massey Energy's systematic failure to follow safety rules governing mine ventilation, roof control, and the cleanup of highly explosive coal dust," Ward reports. He writes on his Coal Tattoo blog that McAteer reported no drugs were in the systems of the 29 miners killed at Upper Big Branch, according to autopsy reports.
Tomblin said he wants drug testing as a way to increase mine safety, citing a history of drug abuse among miners. The industry is "pushing the idea, which it has long championed," Ward reports. Some lawmakers and UMW representatives say the bill is unnecessary because companies already require drug testing.
Ward says on Coal Tattoo that one crucial question about the bill hasn't been addressed: "How specifically would either of these bills prevent the next mine disaster?" He also says it's diverting attention from reforms that are actually based on facts from Upper Big Branch, which is "maybe exactly what the coal industry wants." The industry, he says, was opposed to a similar drug-testing measure introduced by MSHA during the Bush administration because it would have required mine operators to "give miners who test positive the first time a chance to seek treatment and get their lives straightened out before they could be fired."
"Investigative reports released to date generally agree that the Upper Big Branch disaster was caused by Massey Energy's systematic failure to follow safety rules governing mine ventilation, roof control, and the cleanup of highly explosive coal dust," Ward reports. He writes on his Coal Tattoo blog that McAteer reported no drugs were in the systems of the 29 miners killed at Upper Big Branch, according to autopsy reports.
Tomblin said he wants drug testing as a way to increase mine safety, citing a history of drug abuse among miners. The industry is "pushing the idea, which it has long championed," Ward reports. Some lawmakers and UMW representatives say the bill is unnecessary because companies already require drug testing.
Ward says on Coal Tattoo that one crucial question about the bill hasn't been addressed: "How specifically would either of these bills prevent the next mine disaster?" He also says it's diverting attention from reforms that are actually based on facts from Upper Big Branch, which is "maybe exactly what the coal industry wants." The industry, he says, was opposed to a similar drug-testing measure introduced by MSHA during the Bush administration because it would have required mine operators to "give miners who test positive the first time a chance to seek treatment and get their lives straightened out before they could be fired."
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