MSHA investigators finally go underground at Upper Big Branch Mine disaster site

Both state and federal lawmakers hope to review the findings of a federal investigation of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster to see if more laws are necessary to prevent mine disasters.

RENO, NV - 

A federal team from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) investigating the April 5 explosion which killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia begins its underground examination early this week.

Inspectors had previously been prevented from beginning their physical investigation underground due to conditions resulting from the coal mine explosion.

Exploration teams have been periodically inside the mine over the past two weeks to make sure it is safe for investigators to enter. On Thursday workers completed ventilation work on the mine so interview teams could enter the facility.

In a news release, Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, said, "A critical component of this investigation has now begun. Along with the already extensive witnesses interviews that have been conducted, the physical examination of the mine hopefully will provide answers to the cause of a tragic explosion that has affected so many lives."

The underground investigation will consist of several teams with specific expertise in mapping, dust survey, electrical, photography, flames and forces, geologic and evidence gathering.

Formed two months ago, the Upper Big Branch accident investigation team has completed 100 interviews with individuals who may have knowledge of the mine, its conditions, and events leading up to the explosion.

MSHA will hold public hearings and other public events before issuing a formal report on the cause of the explosion.

Last week, Elliot P. Lewis, assistant inspector general for audit in the U.S. Department of Labor, expressed concerns related to MSHA's past implementation of its Pattern of Violation (POV) authority, which address mines with a history of recurring significant and substantial violations of mandatory safety or health standards that demonstrate a mine operator's disregard for the health and safety of miners.

The inspector general found MSHA officials had removed 21 mines from initial POV screening lists. "Mines that were removed did not receive letters notifying them of potential POV status nor did MSHA monitor these miners for improved rates of significant and substantial violations."

"We are very concerned about mines removed for reasons other than appropriate consideration of the health and safety conditions at those mines," Lewis said. "As a result, miners may be subjected to increased safety risks."

The inspector general recommended that MSHA immediately re-evaluate the appropriate POV status of the 10 mines that were previously removed from POV oversight and monitoring based on Coal Mine Safety and Health Administrator limits.

Both Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Assistant Secretary of Labor for MSHA Joseph A. Main said they agreed the POV system, created by the Bush Administration, is fundamentally flowed and needs to be fixed. In a news release, Solis said, "It's clear that we need to scrap the current system and put a new system in place that is focused on protecting miners' safety and health."

"The bottom line is that the system we use this year will be different than the system we used in the past, and we'll continue to work to get this system right in order to protect the safety and health of America's miners," she said.

In April, the Labor Department said a computer glitch kept Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine from being considered for pattern of violation status in October 2009. MSHA said Massey had reduced its violation rate at the mine to the point where it would have not been considered for tougher enforcement.

Rep. George Miller (D-California), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee said the inspector general's report raises very serious concerns and that MSHA "obstructed a key safety enforcement tool that could have endangered the lives of mine workers."

Miller said Congress would soon introduce legislation to further strengthen mine safety laws.

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster is considered the nation's worst coal mining accident in 40 years.

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