Recipe For Mining Disaster: Mix Mining Nut And The New Brownie

MayorBob.

Posted to Etcetera on Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 02:42:31 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

The Crandall Canyon Mine was one of 32 coal mines in Utah operating with a proper permit.  Disaster struck suddenly two weeks ago as the mine collapsed, trapping six miners inside.  Operations quickly began in the hopes of rescuing the six.  These efforts suffered a setback ten days into the rescue as a seismic bump resulted in the rescue party suffering three deaths and six injuries.  Finally, whatever faint hopes of rescuing the six evaporated as mine owner Robert Murray told families of the trapped miners their loved ones were probably dead and would never be recovered.

The Crandall Canyon mine disaster is by no means the worst ever.  It joins a long list of mine collapses, explosions, and fires.  What makes Crandall Canyon stand out are two of the key players involved.

We begin with Robert Murray.  He was an early presence at Crandall Canyon, expressing concern for the miners and offering vows that they would be saved.  He was the humble former coal miner who survived two mine collapses himself, with the health and safety of his workers utmost in his heart.  His company, Murray Energy is the 12th largest coal company in the US, operating mines in numerous states from its headquarter in Ohio.  Murray is not terribly well liked by union officials.  One adoring industry observer noted he was a heavyweight in Republican Party circles and termed him a CEO with a spine.

Murray Energy also has a rather spotty record of safety violations -- 2,787 of them in one Illinois mine over the past two years.  In the year the company has run Crandall Canyon it has been cited 64 times by the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) -- not a terrible record according to industry experts.  Murray began to lose his luster early when he played amateur geologist, arguing the collapse was caused by an earthquake and not unsafe mine operations.  Murray's insistence on sticking to the earthquake theory flew in the face of seismic records.  There is also a question of just how safe things were in a mine where the technique known as "retreat mining" was employed -- all with the approval of the MSHA.

The MSHA is where we next turn.  There we find the person in charge of  the agency charged with "Protecting Miners' Safety and Health Since 1978" - Richard Stickler. Like Murray, Stickler started out as a coal miner.  Eventually, he became a manager for BethEnergy's Pennsylvania and West Virginia operations.  BethEnergy has a bit of a history when it comes to violations.  He didn't come by his job as the main federal watchdog on mine safety easily.  Twice, he failed to gain approval, even when the Senate was controlled by Republicans.  He got the John Bolton treatment and was recess appointed to his position last October.

Noting the glacial manner in which MSHA took control of operations at Crandall Canyon, Stickler's qualifications to head MSHA have come into question.  Those qualifications were challenged during one of his go arounds before the US Senate.  Senator Ted Kennedy (D - MA) said his "history is long on coal production experience but short on ensuring worker safety."  At the time of his recess appointment Senator Arlen Specter (R - PA) said he "didn't think Mr. Stickler was the right man for the job."  In spite of having a name which lends itself to porn star allusions, Dick Stickler is fast becoming referred to by bloggers as the New Brownie.