I can’t keep up with Ken Ward Jr.’s coverage of the trouble brewing, battle, strong difference of opinion between Secretary Hilda Solis/MSHA Asst. Secretary Joe Main and the United Mine Workers (UMWA), family members of deceased coal miners and journalists about the Department of Labor’s decision to have closed-door interviews of witnesses as part of the Massey Upper Big Branch disaster investigation.
Lest you think the press and blogs are the only way to take the pulse of the public, think again. Mr. Dennis O’Dell, the current UMWA H&S director, is sharing his disgust about MSHA’s decision on the social media site Facebook. His commentary begins:
May 2 (3:07 pm): “The UMWA has been asked by miners at Upper Big Branch to be their Representatives during the investigation. There are those out there who want to ice us out of the interviews. What happened to transparency? If there is nothing to hide then why keep us out. What about a Public Hearing?”
May 6 (8:27 am): “Ok so here is the deal..the UMWA,Upper Big Branch family members, the media, the WV Coal Board, and even Massey has asked for open public hearings on the UBB investigation. What does MSHA do…”
[See DOL News Release: “MSHA announces series of public meetings to bolster transparency in investigation of Upper Big Branch Mine explosion”]
May 7 (4:30 pm): “Does anyone out there really think that the public would fall for this attempt from MSHA of playing spin doctor with their so called public hearings for transparency. Read the last statement of the news release. That says it all folks.”
“Prior to and in preparation for the public hearings, MSHA and the state of West Virginia will conduct a physical examination of the mine and private interviews of miners, mining officials and others with knowledge and information about the disaster.”
May 7 (4:30 pm): “Private: removed from or out of public view or knowledge; secret. Public: open to all persons”
Dennis O’Dell is echoing the sentiments of the UMWA President Cecil Roberts who said in a statement:
“The families of the victims do, the UMWA does, the media does, even the company said it does. The West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety – made up equally of industry and labor representatives – voted unanimously for an open and public process. The only people who don’t want this to be completely open are the government agencies, and that, frankly, continues a bad practice that we expected would change under this administration.”
Ken Ward also reminds us in a post entitled “Way back when…” that Mr. Main (when he was director of H&S for the UMWA) said “Congress intended MSHA’s investigations to constitute a public accounting, not a secretive process.”
The Pump Handle 
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
October 13, 2010 at 11:35 pm
jayson turner
To: Miners Editors Columnists – October 12, 2010
From: 10 years Surface Miner, unprotected by MSHA and FMSHRC-ALJ
In the light of MSHA’s leadership’s insufficient support of Miners’ safety in West Virginia mines, I am providing 105C Discrimination case evidence of MSHA’s insufficient support of Miners at a California mine, so that hopefully the energies being spent to make improvements for Coal Miners will also be implemented in such a way as to make all Miners safer. Three men died (Bingham, Hand & Caldwell) during my 10+ years employment at a “Surface Mine” (Cement manufacturing & distribution company) in Lebec California (Mine # 04-00213), but “Surface Miners” hold even less importance to MSHA leadership than “Underground Miners”; weaker regulations for “surface mines” on required training for example; 30CFR Part 48 Sub-parts A(underground) and B(surface).
Casual examination of this Miner’s Reply Brief to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (in regards to Miner’s Appeal of Administrative Law Judge Bulluck’s Dismissal of Miner’s 105C Discrimination claim), will reveal interesting facts of MSHA Western District and the FMSHRC-ALJ non-enforcement of the Mine Act’s protective provisions (designed for Miners’ confidence) and non-enforcement of Miner-105C Investigation revealed MSHA regulation infractions (a clear pattern of bias for the Operator; or caseload slashing).
Encouragement for MSHA and ALJ officials to exercise “swift and short mine closures” for non-compliant mine Operators would restore Miner safety / confidence, and increase mine productivity. As it is, caseload slashers are promoted due to weak leadership. There is a lot of “hype” out there that Miners are wanting less MSHA safety regulation enforcement because of MSHA hurting available work. Miners know that MSHA regulations are good, it’s the lame enforcement of the regulations that is the problem.
My surface mine Operator was so confident that MSHA and the ALJ would side with them, that they repeatedly lied and blatantly refused to cooperate with Mine Act 105C Discovery provisions (even refused some of the ALJ’s few legal requests). Legally cumbersome Operators.
Please take a few minutes request this Miner’s Reply Brief.doc (last short statement of the facts to the Honorable FMSH Review Commission) along with court transcripts, etc, and see why 3 of 5 Commission Judges are speaking for Vacating the ALJ’s decision against this Miner’s 105C Discrimination Case.
An audio recording of FMSHRC’s “open meeting” (Docket No. WEST 2006-568-DM) is available at: http://www.fmshrc.gov/new/meetings.html – “October 7th, 2010” – “Audio of Meeting”.
Their written “findings” are in progress and it sounds promising for a change, although it appears that the Operator (lawyers and Operator supervisors) will be allowed to get away with the documented lying, because there is no mention of Miner’s cited Federal False Claims Act 31 U.S.C. section 3730 (h). No accountability is required of the litigiously cumbersome Operator evidently.
Jayson Turner, P.O.Box C, Pine Mountain, CA 93222
Home Phone: 661 242-3000 (best time evenings)
Email: jturner@calneva.org
P.S. If you want to receive this Miner’s Docket # WEST 2006-568-DM documents, please contact me.
Please forward this info on to more suitable writers if its not your specialty, it is an issue of National importance and needs to be reviewed before Mine Safety is forgotten again.
CC various Officials, Safety Advocates, News Agents, etc. JESUS LIVES
*** Editor feel free to shorten this text to make it acceptable to your standards for publication, some truth is better than none.***