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Back in 1994, 240 coal miners in Hirwaun, Wales bought the Tower Colliery where they were employed. The UK government was de-nationalizing the coal mines and the pit was scheduled to close. The miners took charge of their own livelihood, used their severence-layoff pay and borrowed money, to buy the coal mine.
“In its first year, one of the oldest continuously worked pits in the world made a profit of two million pounds (~ $1 million US) …[and] provided jobs for hundreds of miners.” (Reuters here)]
Last week, the miners and the community said their final goodbye to the Tower Colliery—its coal reserves have run out.
On Monday February 4th, I’ll be doing the Public Health Reports’ monthly webcast, discussing the recent article Celeste Monforton and I wrote entitled Beryllium’s “Public Relations Problem”: Protecting Workers When There is No Safe Exposure Level. Here’s some background:
In a 1947 report, entitled Public Relations Problems in Connection with Occupational Diseases in the Beryllium Industry, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) asserted that the ability of the US government to produce nuclear weapons was threatened by the high incidence of severe health effects associated with exposure to beryllium, a metal vital to weapons production. In response, the AEC established a workplace exposure limit that dramatically reduced beryllium disease incidence. This limit is known as the “taxicab standard” since it was determined by two AEC scientists working in the back seat of a taxi on their way to a meeting.
Read the rest of this entry »
Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), a coal industry “astroturf” organization, is sponsoring the Republican presidential debate tonight and Democratic debate tomorrow night, both in California and hosted by CNN. Think Progress has noticed that ABEC has sponsored three previous debates on CNN, and, in each one, there have been no questions about global warming. That’s gotta be some kind of coincidence, right?
Catch Devra Davis on BookTV this weekend, talking about her terrific book The Secret History of the War on Cancer. More details, including broadcast times, are here.
On January 20th, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper published the results of six months’ worth of interviews with employees from the building site of Beijing’s Olympic stadium:
CHINA has systematically covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers, and perhaps many more, in a rush to construct the futuristic “bird’s nest” stadium in Beijing for this summer’s Olympic Games … In interviews workers talked of the relentless pressure to get the job done, of abusive subcontractors who frequently withheld pay in violation of China’s labour laws and of harsh restrictions on their personal lives in thin-walled dormitories where men bunked 12 to a room.
Chinese officials initially denied that any deaths had occurred, but on Juanuary 28th acknowledged that six workers have died in the construction of Olympic venues, two of them at the “bird’s nest” stadium.
In other news:
In San Francisco, large grocery stores are no longer allowed to give out the disposable, non-biodegradable plastic bags that have formed a giant patch of plastic (twice the size of Texas) in the Pacific Ocean and caused a host of other problems. The Whole Foods supermarket chain will halt plastic-bag distribution on Earth Day this year, and China’s ban on plastic bags will take effect on June 1.
In light of China’s actions, the Guardian looked at other countries that have taken steps to ban or limit the distribution of plastic bags:
In his last state of the union address, President Bush glossed over the seriousness of some of the most pressing problems facing our country, and suggested they could be solved with something that’s been in short supply during his tenure.
“Global climate change” got one brief mention, as something that the nation is committed to confronting with cleaner and more energy-efficient technology. Unacceptable rates of uninsurance and spiraling healthcare costs were obliquely referenced with a stated goal of “making health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans.” Bush invoked technology as the cure for our energy and health care woes, and said this about the energy, medical, and physical sciences research that’s required:
Earlier this month, I wrote in Restoring FOIA about recently passed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which were signed into law by President Bush on Dec. 31, 2007. Supporters of the OPEN Government Act, including the Society for Environmental Journalists (SEJ), are hoping that these new FOIA requirements will bring easier and speedier access to government records. The new law requires the Administration to create an ”Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)” to review agencies’ compliance with FOIA and serve as an ombudsman for FOIA users.
Suddenly, late last week, the emails were flying across the ever-informative SEJ listserve that the Bush Administration is “trying to hijack” the OGIS. The Bush Plan? To shift the office from NARA and to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Yes, the same DOJ that defends EPA, OSHA and other agencies in lawsuits filed by FOIA requesters.
UPDATED BELOW
Annys Shin of the Washington Post has reported that Dr. Gail Charnley, a well-known corporate product defense expert, is the White House’s leading candidate for the chairmanship of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
We’ve written extensively here about this beleaguered agency. Finally, after the nation watched helplessly at the recall of millions of lead-contaminated toys, President Bush has evidently decided to replace current Chairman Nancy Nord with someone more competent to safeguard the interests of manufacturers of dangerous products.
The Post article lists a few reasons the public might be concerned about a Charnley appointment, including one dispute over a missing conflict of interest disclosure. Curious about Dr. Charnley’s work, I spent a little time on the web reviewing selected aspects of her work, and have turned up what appears to be a new failure to disclose a pretty basic financial conflict. But I’ll return to that after reviewing what the Post has learned:
The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released new information concerning the massive explosion on December 19 at the T2 Laboratories plant in Jacksonville, Florida. The disaster killed four men out of the nine total who were working at the time. In their announcement, the CSB investigators indicated that 33 people—more than double the number originally reported—suffered lacerations, contusions and temporary hearing loss from flying and falling debris. The majority of the injured were individuals working in other facilities in the same industrial complex.This is the 3rd time in about a month that the CSB has provided information to the public about their work at the disaster site. Its fellow-federal agencies—OSHA, ATF and NTSB—have also been (or are still) involved in the investigation, but I can’t find a word on their websites or in press accounts about the status of their work. (Telephone inquiries to their public affairs offices have not yet been returned.) Read the rest of this entry »
The science blogosphere has been particularly active this past week. The Second Annual Science Blogging Conference brought bloggers together in North Carolina, where they discussed open science, blogger ethics, gender and race in science, science communication, and more. Conference organizer Coturnix has links and videos aplenty. One thought-provoking post comes from Abel Pharmboy, who reports on the contentious Framing Science discussion. At this session, panelists and audience members debated how to make the public more aware of how essential science is to all of us in, and do so within today’s challenging media environment.
Meanwhile, Dave Munger at Cognitive Daily introduces ResearchBlogging.org, which collects blog posts about peer-reviewed research. Recent posts address stem cells, antidepressants, the herpes simplex virus, Alzheimer’s treatment, and many other research topics.
Elsewhere:
Yesterday, the American Association for the Advancement of Science – the world’s largest general scientific society – announced its co-sponsorship of the Science Debate 2008 campaign (which we at The Pump Handle support, and blogged about here).
In light of recent economic events, the press release announcing AAAS’s co-sponsorship focused on the link between science and economic success:
A group of state legislators in West Virginia introduced a bill to strengthen the State’s laws to protect mine workers who raise concerns about unsafe working conditions. The lead sponsor is Delegate Bill Hamilton (R) who represents the region where the now-abandoned Sago mine is located.* He’s been a strong champion for mine safety improvements and also known for reprimanding Massey Energy’s Don Blankenship when the CEO asserted that mining disasters, like Sago and Aracoma Alma, were rare and insignificant. Mine-worker advocates, like Nathan Fetty at the WV Mine Safety Project say the current State whistleblower law is so cumbersome and ineffective that few WV miners have successfully won their safety discrimination cases.
At the second annual Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway, 500 experts are discussing the outlook for oil and gas production in the rapidly warming Arctic. As is all too common these days, they’ll do so without the benefit of all the information that scientists worked hard to compile about the topic. Christoph Seidler reports in Der Spiegel that the final “Arctic Oil and Gas” report, the product of four years’ work by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, is missing 60 recommendations that scientists had compiled for politicians. Can you guess who was behind the editing?
As the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, it’s clear that the U.S. is still having trouble ensuring that injured veterans get what they need – whether that’s care for a brain injury, mental health services, or sufficient recovery time. Here’s the news from the past week:
- An Army task force report completed in May and released last week highlighted several problems with brain injury screening for returning veterans, according to USA Today. The task force’s chair praised improvements in screening and other areas, but urged further work in gauging neurological deficits and standardizing care and treatment. Victims with no outward signs of injuries can still have problems with short-term memory, problem-solving, and sleep, and can experience nausea, dizziness, and headaches.
- Erin McClam at the Washington Post profiles some of the newest generation of homeless veterans and asks whether homelessness is “an unavoidable byproduct of war.” Rather than showing manifestations of stress disorder 10 years after returning home, as was generally the case with Vietnam veterans, those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are showing the signs much earlier – possibly because they faced different conditions, and possibly because disorders are better understood now. The Veterans Administration’s the director of homeless programs says they’re trying to get services to these veterans today, in the hopes of avoiding problems in the future.
- Some returning soldiers with injuries that limit their capabilities are being re-deployed Iraq on “light duty.” The Denver Post obtained an email from a surgeon at Fort Carson, Colorado, that says Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade Combat team was deploying “some borderline soldiers who we would otherwise have left behind for continued treatment [because] we have been having issues reaching deployment strength.” (Via The Questionable Authority.)
In other news:
By Les Leopold
If you need a quick snooze, read a US Government Accountability Office report with its carefully parsed prose. But lost in the holiday rush was a December GAO report that could keep you awake as it bashes the Bush administration’s effort to water down the community Right to Know regulations that provide us with potentially life-saving information about the use, storage and release of toxic substances. These regulations require that companies make detailed reports which form the Toxics Release Inventory – an accessible public database on the quantity of toxic chemicals on site and how much has been released into the air, land and water.
The rule changes have the smell of freshly minted money. Industry saves as the paperwork declines. More protection from histrionic public peeping toms is also welcomed by these secretive corporations The GAO estimates the new rules permits “3,500 facilities to no longer report detailed information about their toxic chemical releases and waste management practices.” Of the 90,000 Toxic Release Inventory reports now filed, 22,000 could no longer be available to the public. Although the EPA claimed the rules would impact reporting on less than one percent of total toxic releases nationwide, the GAO warned that it “masked the disproportionately large impact the rule would have on individual communities across the country.” But really, should anybody care about these arcane fine points?
The Washington Post’s Jeffrey H. Birnbaum observes that the site of this year’s Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) convention is Denver, Colorado, yet the city only has one unionized hotel. The DNC should take a page from the American Public Health Association (APHA), which adopted a policy in 1999 (#9922) on the use of union hotels for conventions and major meetings.
There’s lots of good blogging this week about what our elected (and hoping to be elected) leaders are doing – or at least talking about doing – on climate change:
- David Roberts at Gristmill thinks it’s better to hold out for better federal climate legislation in 2009
- Jonathan Pfeiffer at Science Progress reports on a hearing considering the fate of the polar bear
- Climate Progress applauds a red-state governor for pushing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Jovana at Enviroblog tells us what the leading presidential hopefuls drive (or don’t)
- Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog reveals Mitt Romney’s ties to a global warming denier group
Elsewhere:
Many of us who grew up in the U.S. took water and electricity for granted, but more and more of us are bumping up against the limits of resources. Three stories in the news this past week illustrate what the difficulties are and how different parties address them.
Remember Julie MacDonald, the Department of Interior appointee with industry connections but no biology degree, who altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for endangered species? There are plenty of wildlife scientists who haven’t forgotten about her or about the larger problem of the Bush administration meddling with environmental science, and two dozen of them descended on Capitol Hill last weekend to make their concerns known. The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Williamson explains:
Howard A. Heit, MD and a pain management specialist at Georgetown University offers an informed perspective on “painkiller abuse” among coal miners, in response to the Washington Post’s article “A Dark Addiction.” He writes:
“I don’t believe the majority of these miners have the disease of addiction….[instead they] are seeking medications appropriately or inappropriately as a result of significant undertreatment of pain.”
The U.S. House of Representatives debated today the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (S-MINER, H.R. 2768) which would require, among other things, closer review of retreat mining plans, allow independent investigations (outside of MSHA) for multiple fatalities, and update permissible exposure limits. The White House issued a veto threat, saying the bill would “place in jeopardy meaningful achievements and efforts currently underway”…”weaken several existing regulations” and “impose burdensome and unrealistic time requirements.” Likewise, the National Mining Association said the bill “would interfere with mine safety progress.” In contrast, families from Kentucky and Utah, who lost loved ones in mining disasters, sent letters of support for the bill (here and here).
As I listened to the debate on C-SPAN radio, I heard a lot about ”drug use” by coal miners and reference to the Washington Post article called “A Dark Addiction” that I blogged about yesterday.
Katherine Torres of Occupational Hazards reports that Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) investigators have identified an overheated chemical reactor as the likely cause of the blast that killed four workers at T2 Laboratories in Jacksonville last month (see Celeste’s posts on the disaster here, here, and here).
In a separate article, Torres covers a letter sent by U.S. Representatives George Miller and Lynn Woolsey to OSHA Secretary Edwin Foulke, which states that if OSHA had modified its Process Safety Management Standard in accordance with recommendations CSB made in 2002, that the revised standard would “most likely have covered the reactive process at T2 Laboratories” and that “compliance with that modified standard might have prevented the fatal explosion.” Torres explains:
by Susan F. Wood, PhD
We are excited to be starting up a new research project here at the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy: Scientists in Government: An Examination of their Rights and Responsibilities in Civil Society. The goal of this initiative is to provoke and shape the public discussion about the rights and responsibilities of government scientists, as part of the larger effort to ensure that government uses the best science to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of Americans.
We are looking for a research associate/qualitative researcher who will lead the process of collecting and analyzing data on the role and functioning of scientists employed by government agencies. This person should have experience designing and conducting qualitative research, including the development of interview instruments and analysis. The candidate should also have a masters degree in public health, sociology, management, organizational structure, or a related field; 3 – 5 years of direct research experience; and experience in qualitative research design and implementation.
Are you that person or do you know someone who is?
email a cover letter and CV to eohsfw@gwumc.edu
Susan F. Wood, PhD is Research Professor at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, where she is part of the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy (SKAPP). She also served as Director of the FDA Office of Women’s Health from 2000-2005
A quick look at “Chernobyl: Relationship between Number of Missing Newborn Boys and the Level of Radiation in the Czech Regions” by Miroslav Peterka, Renata Peterková, and Zbyneˇk Likovsky´ in Environmental Health Perspectives.
As a rule, more boys than girls are born. But in November 1986 in the eastern regions of the Czech Republic, the reverse was true – more girls than boys. It appears that radiation exposure released by the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986, brought to earth by rain over the area, increased radiation exposure. Fetuses that were approximately three months old at the time appear to have been effected, resulting in a reduction of newborn boys six months later.
Last month, Andrew Schneider reported in the Seattle PI that the use of diacetyl-containing cooking oils could be putting professional cooks at risk for the same severe lung disease that’s struck workers in microwave-popcorn and flavor factories. Now, Schneider brings us news that the UNITE HERE union is urging manufacturers to remove diacetyl from cooking sprays and oils, and members of Congress have requested that NIOSH (the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) investigate the use of the chemical and the harm it might be doing to workers.
These are the words of Linden High School student Omar Diaz, 17, remembering his father Victor Diaz, 42 who died on December 1 at North East Linen Supply Company. Mr. Diaz and a co-worker Carlos Diaz, 41, were asphyxiated by chemical fumes while they were cleaning out a 20,000 gallon storage tank at the industrial laundry facility.
New Jersey Asssemblyman Joseph Cryan called immediately for state and federal probes into the workplace deaths, and yesterday, Cong. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Cong. Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Cong. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) held a congressional hearing “Workplace Tragedies: Examining Problems and Solutions” at Linden City Hall.
The front page of Sunday’s Washington Post (Jan. 13) featured the blackened face of coal miner Forest Ramey, 24, but the story was not about a deadly explosion or workers trapped underground. A Dark Addiction, by the Post’s Nick Miroff, gives us a peak into the lives of coal miners who are struggling with painkiller abuse.
“Tazewell County, Va. The crowd is gathering early in the dirt parking lot outside the Clinch Valley Treatment Center, the only methadone clinic within 80 miles. …It is 2:45 am…the clinic does not start dosing until 5 am. …Many of the patients who fill the lot one recent morning have jobs in far-off mines that start at 6 or 7. They sleep upright in their vehicles, slumped up against the steering wheel, dressed for work in steel-toed boots and coveralls lined with orange reflective strips.”
Revere at Effect Measure addresses a troubling article, published in yesterday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s handling of the Andrew Speaker tuberculosis case. You might remember the case, because it got a lot of media attention. Speaker was the Atlanta lawyer who was thought to have XDR TB and boarded a plane to return home from Italy despite having been told not to by health authorities. CDC issued an isolation order for Speaker, and held a press conference about how he could’ve spread the disease aboard his international flight. It was later determined that Speaker had multi-drug-resistant (MDR TB) rather than the more-feared XDR form.
Now, Alison Young reports in the AJC, “The handling of the Speaker case was so unusual that it has raised questions among other TB experts, including whether CDC publicized Speaker’s case in a quest for more money.”
Big Pharma is under scrutiny in the blogosphere this week. Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on a study (published in PLoS Medicine) that finds drugmakers spend almost twice as much on marketing and promotion as they do on R&D; he also tells us who Big Pharma’s backing for president.
Scott Hensley at the WSJ Health Blog reveals the real person behind the BigPharmaRealPeople.org website (whose mission includes fighting “ridiculous Government rules and regulation that hamper Big Pharma from acting in the best interest of customers, patients and pharmacies in a free market society”), while Angry Toxicologist checks an industry publication to find out what Big Pharma really wants at the FDA.
Elsewhere:
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience last week reports a link between lead exposure and accumulation of Alzheimer’s-type plaque in the brains of primates. The National Institutes of Health-funded study examined the brain tissues of 23-year-old monkeys that had been exposed to lead for the first 400 days of their lives (resulting in blood lead levels of 19–26 µg/dl, but no overt signs of toxicity), and found that they had elevated expression of Alzheimer’s-related genes as well as altered levels, characteristics, and distribution of amyloid plaques, which are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Nasser Zawia of the University of Rhode Island, told the Providence Journal that the research is significant because, while he’s found similar results in mice and rats, this is the first time scientists have found the lead-Alzheimer’s link in primates. Zawia and a spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Association put the results in context for people worried about their own disease risk:
Congress left town last month without passing legislation that would overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission, whose weakness has been apparent in recent problems with toys containing lead, dangerous magnets, and a chemical that metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. They did pass a ban on industry-sponsored travel (after the Washington Post reported on trips for CPSC officials sponsored by the toy industry), and they gave the CPSC an $80 million budget for the next fiscal year, which represents the agency’s biggest budget increase in 30 years.
The Washington Post’s Annys Shin reports that the money “will go toward additional staff and improvements to its antiquated testing facilities.” In a separate article, she focuses on one retiring CPSC staff person who will be hard to replace:
Tomorrow’s Science Friday radio program will feature a segment on the Science Debate 2008 campaign, which calls for the presidential candidates to devote a debate to science-related issues. You can listen live online from 2 - 4pm Eastern time, or check your local NPR station’s listings to see when the show airs.
Here’s what we wrote last month about why such a debate is needed and which questions we’d like to see the candidates answer:
It’s been almost a decade since U.S. corporations, facing a consumer outcry over sweatshops, launched high-profile efforts to ensure that their products were manufactured under fair labor conditions. David Barboza of the New York Times reports that investigations by labor rights groups find dangerous and unfair working conditions persisting nonetheless:
The groups say some Chinese companies routinely shortchange their employees on wages, withhold health benefits and expose their workers to dangerous machinery and harmful chemicals, like lead, cadmium and mercury. …
And so while American and European consumers worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead, Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards. Here in the Pearl River Delta region near Hong Kong, for example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year, according to a study published a few years ago by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
In other news:
Several months ago, I tried to get a simple question answered by NIOSH about part of its process for awarding mine safety research grants. The technical staff with whom I spoke probably knew the answer to my question, but they weren’t sure whether the information could be disclosed or not. Fair enough. They suggested that I file a FOIA request which I promptly did. More than 4 months later, I’m still waiting for an answer.
Granted, this is nowhere near the worst FOIA performance (see annual Rosemary Award), but my question to NIOSH was straightforward, and I guarantee they have at least one document which would be responsive to my request.
Remember how EPA library closures and record purges were threatening public access to important environmental information? Now Congress is requiring the agency to restore library services, reports Katherine Boyle of Greenwire:
U.S. EPA must craft plans to reopen regional libraries shuttered from a Bush administration cost-cutting effort under a provision in the agency’s fiscal 2008 budget.
Congress allocated nearly $3 million for restoring library services and requires the agency to report its progress to lawmakers within three months.
At issue are EPA libraries that were closed in Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City and Washington and those in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Seattle whose staffing and operating hours were trimmed.
Why are these libraries so important? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility explains:
Science bloggers Bora Zivkovic (also known as Coturnix) and Reed Cartwright, assisted by a panel of judges, are putting together an anthology of science blog posts from the past year – and I’m honored to report that my post “Popcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesn’t Want to Know” is included.
Open Laboratory 2007, like the 2006 edition before it, will be published by Lulu.com and soon available for order. You can also read all of the blog posts by clicking on the links at A Blog Around the Clock. It’s fascinating collection, sure to amuse as well as to educate. Here are some of the posts that Pump Handle readers might find particularly interesting:
The latest issue of National Geographic includes a story on e-waste that’s worth reading – especially if you got a new computer, TV, or other electronic gift over the holidays and now need to figure out how to get rid of the old one.
Discarded electronic goods often contain a few useful bits – drives, memory chips, copper used in wiring – along with toxic substances like lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and beryllium. For an impoverished family, breaking down old computers can be a reliable way to earn much-needed cash, but the job is hazardous. Chris Carroll reports:
It’s been three weeks since the deadly explosion at the Jacksonville, Florida T2 laboratory which claimed the lives of four workers and injured others on and off the site. The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), along with OSHA and other agencies, is investigating the disaster and lead CSB official, Robert Hall, offered the following information on Jan 3 about the event:
“The blast at T2 was among the most powerful ever examined by the CSB.”
There are two terrific book events scheduled for Monday January 7th, here in Washington DC. Les Leopold, author of The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi, will be in town to talk about Tony’s life and legacy.
Les’ book is a great read, an inspiring and illuminating account of Tony’s lifetime organizing for worker rights and safe factories. Here’s an excerpt, to give you a sense of the book’s content.
At noon on Monday January 7th, Les and several distinguished speakers from the House of Labor will be speaking at noon in the Gompers Room at AFL-CIO headquarters, 815 16th St. NW. Later that evening, there will be a book party at Busboys and Poets Cafe (2021 14th St. NW) starting at 6:30 PM.
More than any other individual, Tony is responsible for inspiring and building the current occupational safety and health movement. These events will be a fine an opportunity to catch up on old and new friends, and celebrate Tony’s life and work.
Bloggers are summing up developments from 2007 and looking ahead to 2008:
• Adrienne Germaine at RH Reality Check presents the Top Ten Wins for Women’s Health in 2007.
• Matt Madia at Reg Watch summarizes Regulatory Policy News for the year.
• Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog brings us the Top 5 YouTube Global Warming Videos of 2007.
• Rep. Jay Inslee at Climate Progress explains what it will take to make 2008 a great year in addressing climate change.
Elsewhere:
I guess President Bush and Secretary Chao are stickin’ with Richard Stickler afterall. A personnel announcement this afternoon from the White House says:
“The President intends to designate Richard Stickler, of West Virginia, to be Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.”
Note the use of the word “designate” not ”nominate.” And now the webpage featuring Mr. Stickler’s photo is back up on MSHA’s website. My previous posts on this are here, here, and here. Oy!
Yesterday afternoon, if you happened to MSHA’s website and click on the Asst. Secretary’s button, you’d see this, with the ominous caption:
“The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.”
That was a tell-tale sign that Richard Stickler’s recess-appointment tenure as MSHA’s chief has come to an end. Ken Ward of The Charleston Gazette reports today in “Stickler out at MSHA” that a political appointee named John Pallasch is now the acting Assistant Secretary for MSHA.
In all the rigmarole of the holiday season, you might not have heard about the consumer safety hazard associated with Christmas lights (or noticed the fine print warnings on their boxes).
It’s no secret that lead is used in light strings’ polyvinyl chloride insulation to prevent deterioration and to guard against fire. But what is a new development this year is the revelation that handling the wiring while you “deck the halls” may result in significant lead exposure.
A coal mine operator in Hazard, Kentucky received a $220,000 penalty from MSHA for flagrantly violating electrical lockout/tagout procedures (such as padlocking an on/off switch to ensure that a machine is not unexpectedly turned-on, plugged in or energized while it is being serviced.) The hefty monetary penalty was authorized under the 2006 MINER Act for flagrant violations, defined as:
“a reckless or repeated failure to make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known violation of a mandatory safety and health standard that substantially and proximately caused, or reasonably could have been expected to cause, death or serious bodily injury.”
In this case, it was an electrician working at the Teco Energy Perry County Coal’s E4-1 mine in June 2007 who received an severe electrical shock and burns because of the company’s disregard for safety. MSHA’s investigators found that failing to lockout/tagout equipment was “a common practice at the mine, and one in which mine management was fully aware. Furthermore, miners were instructed to operate equipment without being properly trained.”
This time next year, the ”Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” will be in effect. The new law, which amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), was signed into law by President Bush on December 31, 2007 and becomes effective in one year. The bill, sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), was endorsed by dozens of organizations from the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Heritage Foundation, the National Security Archive at George Washington University and the Society for Environmental Journalists. As Senator Leahy noted:
“The bill contains important Congressional findings to reiterate and reinforce the view that the Freedom of Information Act establishes a presumption of openness, and that our government is based not on the need to know, but upon the fundamental right to know.”
As 2007 drew to a close, Occupational Hazards asked a panel of industry leaders to make some predictions about the future of workplace safety. Laura Walter reports:
The discussion revealed a variety of emerging trends that could impact the practice of safety in the future. Some were familiar themes, such as globalization, the aging workforce, nanotechnology and OSHA’s role in worker safety. Other predictions were a bit less expected, including the possibility that human resource departments might play a big role in workplace safety culture, the greening movement can attract young talent to the field or product branding may protect workers from injury.
You can read the full writeup here. In other news:
The town of Odessa, Texas had never had a police officer die in the line of duty in its 73-year history. That changed in September 2007, when three Odessa officers, Arlie Jones, 48, Abel Marquez, 32 and Scott Gardner, 30 were gunned down responding to a domestic disturbance complaint.* These three worker-victims were among the 186 law enforcement officers killed on the job in 2007—a 28 percent increase in fatalities compared to 2006. The National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund which tracks officers’ in-the-line-of-duty deaths, reports 2007 was the deadliest year for this cohort since 1989.** The Fund’s data indicates:
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69 officers were shot and killed in 2007, up 33 percent from 2006
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there were six incidents in which two or more officers were gunned down and killed
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81 officers died in traffic-related incidents, up nearly 10 percent from 2006
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41 states had officers killed in the line of duty, as did D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Over at AlterNet, Grist’s David Roberts and Lisa Hymas have compiled a list of the top 15 environmental stories of 2007. Climate change is the dominant theme, with scientists and Al Gore sounding the alarm and politicians responding (not necessarily in a productive way — see the ethanol item). The list also includes stories we’ve covered here at The Pump Handle: our unsustainable food system, hazardous toys, and judicial rebukes of Bush administration environmental policy.
Is there a big environmental story that’s missing from the list? And what’s the 2008 version likely to include a year from now?