In the wake of the tragedy at the Utah mine, it’s worth asking whether better safety rules or mining procedures could have avoided the cave-in that doomed six miners and also led to the deaths of three rescuers.
Under the Bush administration, critics charge, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has been lax in enforcing mining safety, reports the Washington Post.
At the Crandall Canyon mine, Murray Energy was extracting easy-to-reach pillars of coal that previous owners had left intact to help hold up the roof. The practice, known as "retreat mining," is common in the industry. But it’s especially dangerous out West, say experts, where mountain mass overhead, called "overburden," can exert tremendous downward forces.
With coal fetching premium prices, there are tremendous economic pressures to take risks — and the MSHA isn’t doing enough to discourage dangerous practices, argue some miners and industry experts.
"We may be turning back the clock on mine safety rather than going forward," said J. Davitt McAteer, MSHA director during the Clinton administration.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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51 Comments
Business as usual for the Corporate President.
Too bad Bush can’t consult his bud Ken Lay on what to do about mine safety, or any other matter of industry standards and practices…
….but remember, that all-around good guy and big Republican donor Bob Murray says it wasn’t retreat mining–which is legal, thanks to Bush’s anti-safety cronies in the MSHA–and, of course, it was an earthquake that caused the collapse anyway, not the retreat mining.
Yeah, right.
Once again, blame Bush for everything.
This is getting rather old and predictable.
Everything is Bush’s fault.
No logic, no reason, only your blind hatred.
Well yeah, when the Bush regime cuts the budget for OSHA and MSHA, and Tiahrt helps by writing legislation that restricts their ability to report problems then the result will be lax enforcement.
But there’s always more money for killing people overseas.
Doug,
Any elementary look at the data of mining fatalities wouldn’t support this blame Bush for everything irrationality you Dems seem to be suffering from.
Key findings of the 2006 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:
- The overall fatal work injury rate for the U.S. in 2006 was lower than the rate for any year since the fatality census was first conducted in 1992.
There were 5,703 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2006, down slightly from the revised total of 5,734 fatalities in 2005.http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm
Max,
Facts don’t matter on the WEBLOG.
Everything is BUSHY’S fault.
Fatalities and Injuries for All Mining (Coal & Noncoal)Year Average AnnualDeaths Average AnnualInjuries1936-1940 1,546/81,3421941-1945 1,592/82,8251946-1950 1,054/63,3671951-1955 690/38,5101956-1960 550/28,8051961-1965 449/23,2041966-1970 426/22,4351971-1975 322/33,9631976-1980 254/41,2201981-1985 174/24,2901986-1990 122/27,5241991-1999 93/21,351
Deaths Only
2000 –1572001 —522002 —692003 —562004 —552005 —572006 —722007 —37
BUSH’S FAULT 2002-2006 AVG DEATHS PER YEAR: 61.8
http://www.msha.gov/MSHAINFO/FactSheets/MSHAFCT2.HTM
http://www.msha.gov/STATS/DAILY/D2007BAR.PDF
http://www.msha.gov/STATS/DAILY/D2002BAR.PDF
From the body of Max’s linked news release:
“Mining fatalities increased 19 percent in 2006. Fatal workinjuries in coal mining more than doubled in 2006 due in part to theSago mine disaster and other mining incidents. A total of47 coal mining fatalities were recorded in 2006, up from 22 in 2005,due in part to 4 multiple-fatality incidents in coal mining in 2006,claiming a total of 21 workers. The fatality rate for coal miningjumped 84 percent in 2006 to 49.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers, up from26.8 in 2005. Oil and gas extraction fatalities were also higher in 2006.”
I don’t think it can be seriously argued that coal mining (or other mining) is not dangerous. But, Sago in 2006; Crandall Canyon in 2007; is this a trend or just two years in a row with “bad luck”? Insufficient data to determine, of course, from just the link.
Yeah, coal mining deaths can all be avoided. Just go back to using candles.
Now, why doesn’t the Eagle REPORT the decline in mining deaths under Bush?!?
I’m sorry. Made a mistake.
Didn’t count 2001 under Bush.
Revised BUSH BLAME AMOUNT OF AVG MINE DEATHS PER YEAR (including 2001 now) 2001 thru 2006 = 60.16
I regret reporting 61.8 in the above post and leaving out 2001.
Somebody else can look up the 1990’s by year, but during 1991-99 (mostly Clinton years, excluding a big one in 2000 with 157 mining deaths)=
93 deaths per year during 1991-99.
Is that higher or lower than the total under Bush – 61.8?
EOD
Max,
Don’t forget to add that there has also been an increase in mining operations for coal too.
The number of deaths is rather meaningless if you don’t pair that with the number of employees or total hours worked.
Good point Nathan, and BTW -
YOU WERE RIGHT!
I HAD to look up the numbers though. It took a whopping 5 minutes.
Why can’t a newspaper do 5 minutes of research before writing a story?
Ok, Doug. So dig up some facts.
Deaths/Total Working Hours
also
Injuries/Total Working Hours
(And it’s nice when you can cite your source with a link or 2!)
Here’s one site for fatality rates
http://frankwarner.typepad.com/free_frank_warner/2006/01/us_coal_mining_.html
MIning is a dangerous business. It is unfortunate that many lose their lives every year. ANd if there is culpability on the mine owners part, let him hang.
My washing machine is broken. I came back from vacation – it washed one load and went on the blink. Does anyone know if Bush was in town last week? We can’t figure out what happened but I have my suspicions.
I stubbed my toe the other day.
It was because I was hot and disoriented.
It was Global warming!
Since Bush doesn’t want to do anything about it, it was his fault I stubbed my toe.
Certainly sounds logical to me Nathan. I am so glad we have a whipping post for all of the worlds problems. I will never have to take responsibility for myself again!!
From Littlejohn’s link you can find this link:http://www.nma.org/pdf/s_coal_injury_fatality_rates.pdf
Nice little graph on Fatality and Injury rates per 200,000 labor hours. (Just what you were lookin for Doug)
The injury rate is steadily declining from 1995 to 2006.
The fatality rate is up and down a little, mainly between .03 and .04 deaths per 200,000 labor hours. (Though the lowpoint was .02 in 2005)
Well don’tcha know it’s all that privatization…because we can count on major corporations to just do the right thing on their own.
heh.
No regulations, using workers like slaves is good for Americans! Just a few coal miners, they can be replaced.
(Uh-not)
Obviously Mom, you didn’t read the facts before typing away.
Typical Lib Headline Reader/Believer.
The facts are beside the point.
Oh and…IT’s THEIR OWN FAULT FOR NEEDING JOBS!…if they’d only been a checker at the grocery store for 5 bucks an hour…there’d b ded from lack of medical. And it’d be there oen falts two!
political mom-
Kemsa?
To the whining mother (I can almost hear your nagging!):
Miners account for 1% of all deaths in the workplace Mom.
Read one or two links above.
And no, nobody forces these guys to work in the mines.
I hadn’t thought about it LJ. Um, let me find my thing.
Coal mining is an occupation they couldn’t pay me enough to work in.
I worked as the accountant for a small coal company in Oklahoma several years ago. On the days I had to take paychecks out to the job site I could plan on wearing the grubbiest clothes I owned. We furnished uniforms for the workers and had them laundered because the coal dust would eat the insides out of a regular washing machine. It is a dirty business. Black lung was still a problem even though we did surface mining and not underground mining.
We never had to look for workers. There was always a waiting line for the open jobs. Some men only wanted to do this work. I don’t know why. They chose it. That might be why there will always be men looking to fill the open positions at this Utah mine.
If the owner in anyway violated any safety regulations I say throw the book at him. If not it was a tragic accident in a field that has always had tragic accidents.
I knew it! It’s their own fault for working in the mines!
LJ, it’s over! No I didn’t go.
Yea. It was a good conference. But tiring. Mostly good speakers. Good food, but just tiring.
I went to the Anime thing I had promised my daughter months ago. That’s why I didn’t even bother to pay attention to it.
I don’t even know if any coworkers went. I don’t recall any of them talking about it. Too bad, always had a good time at these things. And I know about 5 ppl who needed the hours.
Getting ready to do something at the end of Sept that I’m looking forward to.
Lenny, you find your mouse?
George, oh no George. I haven’t found him yet. I’m looking for him George. I know I’ll find him.
Anime. Hmm. Guess I am just too old. My son and his wife love that stuff. I just don;t care for it.
“Getting ready to do something at the end of Sept that I’m looking forward to”
????.
George, you find us a job yet, George?
Yeah Lenny, we’re gonna be professional bloggers.
We’ll get paid cash every week, so we can still collect our welfare.
Just so we don’t have to work in that coal mine again George.
That was hard work, and scary.
Lenny, you take that mouse down into that coal mine?
Oh no George, that’s where I found him to begin with.
I hope I didn’t lose him down there.
Email me LJ.
President Bush doesn’t care about miners or any workers. To him and the Republicans we are all scum that can be killed and replaced with somebody cheaper- maybe even an illegal alien! They could care less about anybody that works. This country is fast headed to 3rd world status like Hati with a small rich class and everybody else being poor.
Here comes Kev “Sweeping generalizations unfounded in fact” again.
Clinton hated miners more. More miners died each year under Clinton, you know. It’s all Clinton’s fault.
Read the ###s above.
Thanks for the graph Max. It appears by the consistent downward trend that the programs in place were working to get mines up to standard and reduce injuries. With the recent cuts by the Republicans we’ll have to wait another five years to see the results.
Doug,
You never can simply admit that you were wrong…
HeyLets get rid of the profit motive, go completely socialist/communist, that ought to FIX The problem, shouldn’t it?
After all, look how well that strategy has worked in China:
http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press861.htm
Nathan, I think Doug has a point.
We had to wait until 9/11/01 to find out where Bill Clinton’s foregin policy/lack of any National Defense trend was leading America.
The coal mine trend under Bush may not be apparent for a few more years.
Nice link Econ. The Socialist Democrats are taking us in the Socialist/Communist economic direction for sure. From your link:
Table 1: Coal mine accidents and deaths in China
Total number of coal mine accidents (a)
Total number of deaths (b)
Year 2000
a) 2,863b) 5,798
Year 2001
a) 3,082b) 5,670
Year 2002
a) 4,344b) 6,995
Year 2003
a) 4,143b) 6,434
Year 2004
a) 3,639b) 6,027
Year 2005
a) 3,341b) 5,986