Chairman Miller Statement on Mine Death at International Coal Group’s Pocahontas Mine in West Virginia
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued a statement today after a miner died at a coal mine listed by federal mine safety officials as facing potential higher sanctions if not for a backlog of thousands of owner appeals. A 28-year old miner at the Pocahontas Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia was crushed between a continuous miner and the mine wall last night. The miner died this morning. “I am deeply saddened by yet another coal miner’s death. It is especially troubling that this death occurred at a mine that we knew posed a danger to miners. The 48 mines identified publicly last week by this committee continue to pose a danger to our nation’s miners. The fact is that a mine that has a pattern of safety problems indicates a dangerous workplace. Tragically, we have had to learn that lesson again today.
“Indiscriminate mine owner appeals are letting some of the most dangerous mines to escape tougher penalties and heightened scrutiny. The Obama administration and Congress must correct this problem and correct it now. Mine operators must be held accountable to the highest standard for protecting the safety and health of America’s hard-working miners. We must start clearing this backlog up immediately.”
Last week, the committee released a list of 48 mines identified by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration in August 2009 for increased scrutiny, including ICG’s Pocahontas Mine, but were not targeted due to the more than 16,000 unresolved appeals filed by mine operators. The list includes the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where 29 miners lost their lives in an explosion on April 5.
In February, the committee held a hearing on how these flood of mine owner appeals of violations were undermining efforts to protect miners by delaying tougher sanctions.
The International Coal Group also owned the Sago mine where an explosion in January 2006 trapped 13 miners. Only one miner survived.
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