Miller Statement on Sentence of Ex-Mine Security Head of the Upper Big Branch Mine
WASHINGTON – Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement after the ex-mine security chief of Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine was sentenced to three years for lying to investigators about giving advanced notice for impending mine safety inspections and for ordering the destruction of evidence.
“This conviction and sentence in West Virginia should send a strong message that those who break the law and put miners’ lives at risk will be held accountable. Corporate accountability rarely comes to the mining world. For too many years, miners have been killed on the job while mine operators have escaped responsibility for a variety of reasons including weak laws and poor enforcement. For too many years, fines and settlements have become all too common and have become the cost of doing business in the eyes of too many corporate mining executives.
“Criminal sanctions like jail time for individuals who break the law at mines send a completely different and very significant message. That’s why it’s very important that the Justice Department fully investigate and prosecute criminal activity at Upper Big Branch. Miners and their families must be assured that our country will stand up for their lives and mine operators must get the message that keeping miners safe is a necessary and critical obligation they have.”
On December 16, Democratic members of committee urged Attorney General Eric Holder to vigorously pursue those who were responsible for the tragedy. A $209 million non-prosecution agreement was reached by the U.S. Attorney with Alpha Natural Resources on December 6, which acquired the Upper Big Branch mine and Massey Energy.
Miller is the coauthor of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1579) and, as chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, Miller called the only congressional hearings into the tragedy that included the voices of the families and the miners of Upper Big Branch.
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