Online Map Pinpoints Workplace Fatalities
September 7, 2007
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, has launched a new interactive online map that enables people to learn about many of the workplace fatalities that have occurred in their own communities this year.
The map, which displays geographic "push pin" markers that users click on for details, relies on published news reports in 2007 to show worker fatalities nationwide, and it includes information about the workers' occupations and causes of death, along with a link to the original report of the fatality. The map represents roughly 10 percent of the total number of on-the-job fatalities so far this year, according to information posted on the Committee's Web site. "It is not a comprehensive report, but [the map] demonstrates the need to strengthen worker safety protections," the site says.
To access the map, visit http://edlabor.house.gov/issues/workerdeaths.shtml.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
MSHA rescue order underwent 19 changes
MSHA rescue order underwent 19 changes
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
September 12, 2007
When federal mining regulators first took charge Aug. 6 at the Crandall Canyon mine, the disaster that ultimately took nine lives and wounded six other miners was characterized as "a noninjury accident."
The time was 4:41 a.m., less than two hours after the mine's walls imploded in a collapse that University of Utah seismographs measured at magnitude 3.9.
At that point, a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) official issued a 103(k) order, named after the provision in federal law that authorizes the agency to enter a mine where an accident threatens the safety of miners and to establish a semblance of order.
From that point on, the 103(k) order prohibited "all activity at the Crandall Canyon Mine until MSHA has determined it is safe" and required the mine co-owner and operator, Murray Energy Corp. and its UtahAmerican Energy Inc. subsidiary, to secure prior MSHA approval for all rescue operation plans.
During the next three weeks of the ill-fated rescue effort, there were 19 modifications of the order, which was made public Tuesday. It was posted on MSHA's Web site after Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the document were filed by Mine Safety and Health News, a trade publication that tracks MSHA activities, and The Salt Lake Tribune.
"The 'k' order is important because MSHA has to approve anything that [mine co-owner Robert] Murray did in relation to that rescue," said longtime Mine Safety and Health News owner and managing editor Ellen Smith.
She was incensed to see Murray leading news media into the mine, knowing that 103(k) orders rightly restrict underground access to "necessary persons" and that engineers she had interviewed described the Crandall Canyon situation as exceedingly dangerous.
"I wanted to find out who approved the press going in there," she said. "It's important to hold people accountable or to see where accountability lies."
The 103(k) order itself does not shed much light on who authorized Murray to take a group of reporters and photographers into the mine on Aug. 8, two days into the rescue effort.
There was a modification approved at 1:50 p.m. on Aug. 7 that permitted the [mine] operator "to use a camera underground," limiting that use to "photographs depicting underground conditions for the purpose of informing family members and/or members of the media of the current underground conditions in the mine and the equipment used in the recovery efforts."
While no mention was made of media participation in an underground tour, an MSHA spokesman sent Smith an e-mail Tuesday that said "MSHA ensured that the [media] crew had appropriate safety training and were accompanied by an MSHA inspector."
The rescue plans submitted by Murray Energy and order modifications approved by MSHA make no mention of the missing miners or possible causes of the disaster.
But the language and restrictions in multiple entries clearly indicate that officials were aware of the highly volatile environment in which rescuers were working.
As crews clawed their way back through a rubble-filled tunnel toward the area where the trapped miners were last known to be working, numerous protective measures were ordered.
"We have to take every precaution possible," said an Aug. 11 amendment signed by MSHA district manager Allyn Davis and company general manager Laine Adair.
All of those precautions, however, were unable to prevent the tunnel walls from imploding on the rescuers at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 16. Five hours later, MSHA modified the order to prohibit anyone from going within almost a half-mile of where the blowout occurred.
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
September 12, 2007
When federal mining regulators first took charge Aug. 6 at the Crandall Canyon mine, the disaster that ultimately took nine lives and wounded six other miners was characterized as "a noninjury accident."
The time was 4:41 a.m., less than two hours after the mine's walls imploded in a collapse that University of Utah seismographs measured at magnitude 3.9.
At that point, a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) official issued a 103(k) order, named after the provision in federal law that authorizes the agency to enter a mine where an accident threatens the safety of miners and to establish a semblance of order.
From that point on, the 103(k) order prohibited "all activity at the Crandall Canyon Mine until MSHA has determined it is safe" and required the mine co-owner and operator, Murray Energy Corp. and its UtahAmerican Energy Inc. subsidiary, to secure prior MSHA approval for all rescue operation plans.
During the next three weeks of the ill-fated rescue effort, there were 19 modifications of the order, which was made public Tuesday. It was posted on MSHA's Web site after Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the document were filed by Mine Safety and Health News, a trade publication that tracks MSHA activities, and The Salt Lake Tribune.
"The 'k' order is important because MSHA has to approve anything that [mine co-owner Robert] Murray did in relation to that rescue," said longtime Mine Safety and Health News owner and managing editor Ellen Smith.
She was incensed to see Murray leading news media into the mine, knowing that 103(k) orders rightly restrict underground access to "necessary persons" and that engineers she had interviewed described the Crandall Canyon situation as exceedingly dangerous.
"I wanted to find out who approved the press going in there," she said. "It's important to hold people accountable or to see where accountability lies."
The 103(k) order itself does not shed much light on who authorized Murray to take a group of reporters and photographers into the mine on Aug. 8, two days into the rescue effort.
There was a modification approved at 1:50 p.m. on Aug. 7 that permitted the [mine] operator "to use a camera underground," limiting that use to "photographs depicting underground conditions for the purpose of informing family members and/or members of the media of the current underground conditions in the mine and the equipment used in the recovery efforts."
While no mention was made of media participation in an underground tour, an MSHA spokesman sent Smith an e-mail Tuesday that said "MSHA ensured that the [media] crew had appropriate safety training and were accompanied by an MSHA inspector."
The rescue plans submitted by Murray Energy and order modifications approved by MSHA make no mention of the missing miners or possible causes of the disaster.
But the language and restrictions in multiple entries clearly indicate that officials were aware of the highly volatile environment in which rescuers were working.
As crews clawed their way back through a rubble-filled tunnel toward the area where the trapped miners were last known to be working, numerous protective measures were ordered.
"We have to take every precaution possible," said an Aug. 11 amendment signed by MSHA district manager Allyn Davis and company general manager Laine Adair.
All of those precautions, however, were unable to prevent the tunnel walls from imploding on the rescuers at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 16. Five hours later, MSHA modified the order to prohibit anyone from going within almost a half-mile of where the blowout occurred.
House Asked to Delay Probe of Utah Mine
House Asked to Delay Probe of Utah Mine
Washington Post - United StatesBy JENNIFER TALHELM
The Associated Press
September 11, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department wants a House committee to delay an inquiry into the deadly Aug. 6 Utah coal mine collapse, fearing it could jeopardize the administration's own investigation.
The department is trying to slow down the House Education and Labor Committee, which plans to interview witnesses Wednesday and hold a hearing in October on the accident.
Nine people died in two cave-ins at the mine. The accident has led some to question the performance of the government's mine safety agency.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the committee's chairman, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the department argues that by asking their own questions, lawmakers could "taint" the Mine Safety and Health Administration's ability to bring civil or criminal charges. The agency is still investigating the accident.
Miller says he's going ahead anyway.
"The families of the miners who died and active miners all over the country deserve an objective and independent review of the tragedy that will help us to prevent future tragedies," Miller said in a statement.
The letter to Miller from the department's acting solicitor, Jonathan Snare, indicates that the agency has repeatedly asked the committee to hold off.
The committee's "parallel investigation" could prejudice witnesses, tip off potential targets, confuse the victims' families and the public and "possibly unfairly tarnish the reputation of innocent victims," Snare wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
It is the latest round in a conflict between Congress and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Lawmakers have raised numerous questions about MSHA since the cave-in. The Senate held a hearing last week examining the agency's oversight of the mine operator and the government's handling of the accident.
Six miners trapped in the Aug. 6 collapse are presumed dead, entombed 1,500 feet below ground. Three rescuers, including an MSHA inspector, were killed in a second collapse on Aug. 16 while trying to tunnel to the men.
The accident comes a year after several high-profile coal mine disasters spurred a flurry of new mine safety laws.
"It is the committee's responsibility and obligation to conduct an independent investigation of this tragedy," Miller said.
Snare wrote that MSHA will cooperate, but he asked Miller to ensure that the information doesn't become public.
Washington Post - United StatesBy JENNIFER TALHELM
The Associated Press
September 11, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department wants a House committee to delay an inquiry into the deadly Aug. 6 Utah coal mine collapse, fearing it could jeopardize the administration's own investigation.
The department is trying to slow down the House Education and Labor Committee, which plans to interview witnesses Wednesday and hold a hearing in October on the accident.
Nine people died in two cave-ins at the mine. The accident has led some to question the performance of the government's mine safety agency.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the committee's chairman, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the department argues that by asking their own questions, lawmakers could "taint" the Mine Safety and Health Administration's ability to bring civil or criminal charges. The agency is still investigating the accident.
Miller says he's going ahead anyway.
"The families of the miners who died and active miners all over the country deserve an objective and independent review of the tragedy that will help us to prevent future tragedies," Miller said in a statement.
The letter to Miller from the department's acting solicitor, Jonathan Snare, indicates that the agency has repeatedly asked the committee to hold off.
The committee's "parallel investigation" could prejudice witnesses, tip off potential targets, confuse the victims' families and the public and "possibly unfairly tarnish the reputation of innocent victims," Snare wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
It is the latest round in a conflict between Congress and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Lawmakers have raised numerous questions about MSHA since the cave-in. The Senate held a hearing last week examining the agency's oversight of the mine operator and the government's handling of the accident.
Six miners trapped in the Aug. 6 collapse are presumed dead, entombed 1,500 feet below ground. Three rescuers, including an MSHA inspector, were killed in a second collapse on Aug. 16 while trying to tunnel to the men.
The accident comes a year after several high-profile coal mine disasters spurred a flurry of new mine safety laws.
"It is the committee's responsibility and obligation to conduct an independent investigation of this tragedy," Miller said.
Snare wrote that MSHA will cooperate, but he asked Miller to ensure that the information doesn't become public.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Robot-Assisted Rescuers Seek Answers in Wake of Utah Mine Collapse
Robot-Assisted Rescuers Seek Answers in Wake of Utah Mine Collapse
Crews sent a hastily improvised robot crawler into the Crandall Canyon mine, but it was no match for seismic activity, groundwater and other challenges.
As Senate hearings get underway this week to probe the accident at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah that claimed the lives of six miners and three rescuers, attempts are also being made to evaluate the performance of robotic equipment sent in to assist the failed rescue mission.
The robotics team faced several daunting engineering and device-control challenges as it tried to unearth clues as to the whereabouts of the miners trapped 1,500 feet underground. The mine's depth meant that any mobile robot deployed needed to be equipped to travel not only through one of the seven boreholes drilled into the mountain above the mine but also to navigate for several hundred feet once it reached the mine's floor. In addition, the robot had to be waterproofed so that it would not malfunction when submerged in the pools of ground water it would encounter while traversing the mine's interior. And all of this had to be done using equipment above ground that would control the robot's movement and onboard cameras.
Workers, handicapped by time constraints and the continued shifting of the mountain's mass, were able to get only one mobile robot through a borehole and onto the mine's floor, where it traveled as far as seven feet from the point of entry, says Robin Murphy, director of the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology at the University of South Florida. The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, charged with overseeing all rescue and recovery operations in the aftermath of the August 6 cave-in, asked the Institute's Center for Robot Assisted Search and Rescue for help shortly after the accident.
The Crandall Canyon mine, located 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, crumbled in a cave-in so powerful that it registered a magnitude of 3.9 on the Richter scale. Tremors continued for several days after the initial cave-in, the strongest striking on August 16 with a magnitude of 1.6 and causing a subsequent collapse that claimed the lives of three rescuers. After that, rescuers relied primarily on the boreholes drilled throughout the mountain to give them some idea of where the miners might be trapped. Each of the seven boreholes, which ranged in size from 2.5 to nearly nine inches in diameter, took at least 40 hours to drill. The deepest hole cut more than 2,000 feet into the mountain and took more than 58 hours to drill.
Rescue crews decided to build a robot crawler using four-by-15-inch tracks from Inuktun Services that let the vehicle squeeze through tight spaces. The robot was attached to a control cable supplied by PipeEye International and outfitted with an Inuktun Spectrum 90 amphibious pan, tilt and zoom camera as well as a very small video camera.
PipeEye was on-site at the mine for seven days working with Inuktun's technology tethered to more than a mile of fiber-optic and copper cabling. While none of PipeEye's robotic devices were small enough to fit down the boreholes, the company was able to transfer the control electronics from one of its robots to one of Inuktun's devices.
Search teams experienced quickly deteriorating conditions as the mountain shifted and settled atop the mine. Although seven boreholes were drilled, the sixth and seventh collapsed before the robotic device could traverse them.
PipeEye's robot managed to touch down on the mine's floor through the fourth borehole. Its cameras captured images of wire mesh that had been used to stabilize the mine's ceiling but were instead hanging down to the floor. "All we could see was piles of rocks and mud," says James Milward, PipeEye's senior technician. Conditions on the mine's floor "were worse than we expected," Murphy adds. With continued seismic activity blowing holes in the mine's walls, the floor was filled with water and debris.
Unable to provide the rescuers with much information, the robot was left down the borehole overnight. Unfortunately, when the crew returned to retrieve it the next morning they discovered that the hole had shifted and the robot could no longer make its way back to the surface. Despite several attempts to remove the robot, including using a 400-pound chisel to break up the ground blocking its escape, the $35,000 robot became permanently trapped 52 feet below the surface. "It's in the mountain forever," Milward says.
Given more time, Milward is convinced he and his team could have designed a robotic device better suited for the situation. The robot used was just barely small enough to fit through the borehole. "If we do anymore work in this industry,'' he says, "we would use a smaller version."
Murphy hopes that lessons learned at Crandall Canyon will be incorporated into any standards that the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, develops for future rescue robotics. Since every disaster is different, the best robotics designs give rescuers the most flexibility, she says, adding, "You never get it all right, even if you think you know what's down there."
It is crucial that robotic rescue devices be well crafted before they are sent into harsh conditions such as those found at Crandall Canyon. This includes having a watertight body with sensors and camera equipment positioned higher up on the robot so that they are less likely to be blocked by debris. All of this needs to be done to help workers on the surface operating the robot. The long hours and harsh conditions at a rescue site make it "unreasonable to expect that people will be able to compensate for any of the technology's shortcomings on-site," Murphy says.
Crews sent a hastily improvised robot crawler into the Crandall Canyon mine, but it was no match for seismic activity, groundwater and other challenges.
As Senate hearings get underway this week to probe the accident at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah that claimed the lives of six miners and three rescuers, attempts are also being made to evaluate the performance of robotic equipment sent in to assist the failed rescue mission.
The robotics team faced several daunting engineering and device-control challenges as it tried to unearth clues as to the whereabouts of the miners trapped 1,500 feet underground. The mine's depth meant that any mobile robot deployed needed to be equipped to travel not only through one of the seven boreholes drilled into the mountain above the mine but also to navigate for several hundred feet once it reached the mine's floor. In addition, the robot had to be waterproofed so that it would not malfunction when submerged in the pools of ground water it would encounter while traversing the mine's interior. And all of this had to be done using equipment above ground that would control the robot's movement and onboard cameras.
Workers, handicapped by time constraints and the continued shifting of the mountain's mass, were able to get only one mobile robot through a borehole and onto the mine's floor, where it traveled as far as seven feet from the point of entry, says Robin Murphy, director of the Institute for Safety Security Rescue Technology at the University of South Florida. The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, charged with overseeing all rescue and recovery operations in the aftermath of the August 6 cave-in, asked the Institute's Center for Robot Assisted Search and Rescue for help shortly after the accident.
The Crandall Canyon mine, located 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, crumbled in a cave-in so powerful that it registered a magnitude of 3.9 on the Richter scale. Tremors continued for several days after the initial cave-in, the strongest striking on August 16 with a magnitude of 1.6 and causing a subsequent collapse that claimed the lives of three rescuers. After that, rescuers relied primarily on the boreholes drilled throughout the mountain to give them some idea of where the miners might be trapped. Each of the seven boreholes, which ranged in size from 2.5 to nearly nine inches in diameter, took at least 40 hours to drill. The deepest hole cut more than 2,000 feet into the mountain and took more than 58 hours to drill.
Rescue crews decided to build a robot crawler using four-by-15-inch tracks from Inuktun Services that let the vehicle squeeze through tight spaces. The robot was attached to a control cable supplied by PipeEye International and outfitted with an Inuktun Spectrum 90 amphibious pan, tilt and zoom camera as well as a very small video camera.
PipeEye was on-site at the mine for seven days working with Inuktun's technology tethered to more than a mile of fiber-optic and copper cabling. While none of PipeEye's robotic devices were small enough to fit down the boreholes, the company was able to transfer the control electronics from one of its robots to one of Inuktun's devices.
Search teams experienced quickly deteriorating conditions as the mountain shifted and settled atop the mine. Although seven boreholes were drilled, the sixth and seventh collapsed before the robotic device could traverse them.
PipeEye's robot managed to touch down on the mine's floor through the fourth borehole. Its cameras captured images of wire mesh that had been used to stabilize the mine's ceiling but were instead hanging down to the floor. "All we could see was piles of rocks and mud," says James Milward, PipeEye's senior technician. Conditions on the mine's floor "were worse than we expected," Murphy adds. With continued seismic activity blowing holes in the mine's walls, the floor was filled with water and debris.
Unable to provide the rescuers with much information, the robot was left down the borehole overnight. Unfortunately, when the crew returned to retrieve it the next morning they discovered that the hole had shifted and the robot could no longer make its way back to the surface. Despite several attempts to remove the robot, including using a 400-pound chisel to break up the ground blocking its escape, the $35,000 robot became permanently trapped 52 feet below the surface. "It's in the mountain forever," Milward says.
Given more time, Milward is convinced he and his team could have designed a robotic device better suited for the situation. The robot used was just barely small enough to fit through the borehole. "If we do anymore work in this industry,'' he says, "we would use a smaller version."
Murphy hopes that lessons learned at Crandall Canyon will be incorporated into any standards that the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, develops for future rescue robotics. Since every disaster is different, the best robotics designs give rescuers the most flexibility, she says, adding, "You never get it all right, even if you think you know what's down there."
It is crucial that robotic rescue devices be well crafted before they are sent into harsh conditions such as those found at Crandall Canyon. This includes having a watertight body with sensors and camera equipment positioned higher up on the robot so that they are less likely to be blocked by debris. All of this needs to be done to help workers on the surface operating the robot. The long hours and harsh conditions at a rescue site make it "unreasonable to expect that people will be able to compensate for any of the technology's shortcomings on-site," Murphy says.
Utah's new mine safety commission meets
Utah's new mine safety commission meets
ABC 4 - Salt Lake City,USA
September 11, 2007
PRICE, Utah (AP) - The members of the new state committee on mine safety are asking federal investigators for some cooperation. They want to make sure they're kept up to date on the federal probe into the Crandall Canyon mine disaster last month.The Utah Mine Safety Commission met yesterday. Chairman Scott Matheson asked an attorney for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to make sure Utah's panel has access to the pertinent information in the investigation.The attorney replied MSHA will try, but that the agency is limited in what it can disclose before the investigation is completed.Matheson says he will push the federal agency for information if he needs to.Six miners and three men who were trying to rescue them died at Crandall Canyon last month when the mine collapsed several times.--- Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
ABC 4 - Salt Lake City,USA
September 11, 2007
PRICE, Utah (AP) - The members of the new state committee on mine safety are asking federal investigators for some cooperation. They want to make sure they're kept up to date on the federal probe into the Crandall Canyon mine disaster last month.The Utah Mine Safety Commission met yesterday. Chairman Scott Matheson asked an attorney for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to make sure Utah's panel has access to the pertinent information in the investigation.The attorney replied MSHA will try, but that the agency is limited in what it can disclose before the investigation is completed.Matheson says he will push the federal agency for information if he needs to.Six miners and three men who were trying to rescue them died at Crandall Canyon last month when the mine collapsed several times.--- Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
Monday, September 10, 2007
Investor files second shareholder lawsuit against Massey
Investor files second shareholder lawsuit against Massey
September 10, 2007 6:24 PM
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Massey Energy is facing another shareholder lawsuit.The latest lawsuit accuses the Richmond, Virginia-based coal company and 12 current and former officials, including Chief Executive Don Blankenship, of breaching their fiduciary duty and other misconduct.
Shareholder Vernon Mercier charges the defendants allowed Blankenship and other officers to engage in illegal and imprudent conduct that has hurt the company. And Mercier claims the defendants permitted Massey to violate environmental and mine safety laws.
Mercier's lead attorney did not immediately return a call. Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said the company plans to fight the suit.
The federal lawsuit largely follows one filed last July in Kanawha Circuit Court by another shareholder. Both cite as examples a separate federal lawsuit accusing Massey of thousands of Clean Water Act violations and a record fine issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration after a fatal fire at a Logan County mine last year.
September 10, 2007 6:24 PM
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Massey Energy is facing another shareholder lawsuit.The latest lawsuit accuses the Richmond, Virginia-based coal company and 12 current and former officials, including Chief Executive Don Blankenship, of breaching their fiduciary duty and other misconduct.
Shareholder Vernon Mercier charges the defendants allowed Blankenship and other officers to engage in illegal and imprudent conduct that has hurt the company. And Mercier claims the defendants permitted Massey to violate environmental and mine safety laws.
Mercier's lead attorney did not immediately return a call. Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said the company plans to fight the suit.
The federal lawsuit largely follows one filed last July in Kanawha Circuit Court by another shareholder. Both cite as examples a separate federal lawsuit accusing Massey of thousands of Clean Water Act violations and a record fine issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration after a fatal fire at a Logan County mine last year.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Buckhannon man to help mine whistleblowers
Buckhannon man to help mine whistleblowers
By Ken Ward Jr. Staff writer
Last year, Nathan Fetty watched his community suffer through the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine disaster. Now, the Buckhannon resident is going to do something to help coal miners across the state deal with safety problems.
Fetty is starting a new project to provide free legal services to miners who have voiced safety concerns and then been retaliated against.
“Living in the community and watching the Sago disaster unfold was really gut-wrenching,” Fetty said. “It impacted the whole community, and it impacted me. I wanted to do something to help.”
This month, Fetty launched the West Virginia Mine Safety Project, an initiative of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.
“The coal industry has a duty to provide safe workplaces for miners,” he said. “This project gives miners a place to turn for help when they need to speak up about safety problems.”
Federal and state laws prohibit coal operators from firing or otherwise discriminating against miners for voicing safety concerns. Miners who feel they were punished for safety complaints can seek back pay and reinstatement.
Despite these legal protections, many miners fear retaliation if they complain about unsafe conditions, said Tony Oppegard, who founded a similar project in Kentucky and has represented coal miners in discrimination cases for years.
“Discrimination against coal miners for making safety complaints or for refusing to work in unsafe conditions is especially prevalent in non-union mines, where miners don’t have the benefit of safety committeemen to help resolve safety-related disputes with management,” Oppegard said.
“The right to refuse unsafe work is the coal miner’s ultimate way to protect his safety when faced with intolerable working conditions,” he said. “But that right is meaningless if the miner doesn’t have a knowledgeable attorney who is willing to advocate and fight for him.”
Fetty, 30, is no stranger to fighting coal companies. While still a student at West Virginia Wesleyan College, he worked for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. He continued that work after graduating, serving the coalition as both a lobbyist and grass-roots organizer.
While attending West Virginia University’s College of Law, Fetty worked with the Appalachian Center, representing citizens and conservation organizations in pollution litigation.
Fetty’s interest in public interest law began while he worked for the Rivers Coalition, and only grew during his previous stint with the Appalachian Center.
“I just saw a lot of need for public interest law, and a need for people to do that sort of work, especially as it relates to the coal industry,” he said. “I felt like without a law degree I was just beating my head against the wall.”
Fetty’s work will be funded by a fellowship from the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, a project of the New York-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Skadden’s program, described as a “legal Peace Corps,” provides one-year fellowships — with an expectation of renewal for a second year — to provide legal services for the poor, the elderly, the homeless and disabled, and to those deprived of their civil or human rights.
Fetty modeled his project after the Mine Safety Project in Kentucky, which was recently revived by Wes Addington at the Appalachian Citizens Law Center in Prestonsburg, Ky.
In one case finalized in 2006, Addington helped win back pay and a $10,000 civil penalty from a Kentucky operator who had fired four workers for complaining about unsafe conditions and bad brakes on a coal scoop.
Fetty says he’s going to focus on discrimination cases, but also will follow the implementation of new mine safety rules and could challenge any government delays. Short of filing lawsuits, Fetty also hopes to help miners understand their legal safety rights more clearly.
Investigations at the Sago Mine, Fetty said, showed how poor enforcement and failure to follow through on tough regulations could cost miners their lives.
“It seems like there was a wholesale failure on the part of the regulatory scheme,” he said. “It was a disaster from top to bottom. There were so many things that went wrong that shouldn’t have gone wrong.”
Fetty will not, however, handle cases for miners who have been injured in workplace accidents.
There are many skilled and dedicated lawyers helping miners who have been injured at work,” he said. “We’re doing something a little different — that is, we hope to help coal miners before tragedy strikes.”
At the Appalachian Center, Fetty will bring a new twist to that Lewisburg-based organization.
“Until now, the Appalachian Center’s work has focused on environmental issues associated with coal mining in the region,” said Joe Lovett, the center’s executive director. “The center is proud to sponsor the Mine Safety Project because Mr. Fetty’s work will help to broaden the Appalachian Center’s efforts to promote a just and sustainable economy in West Virginia’s coal-producing counties.”
Coal miners who need the Mine Safety Project’s help can call (304) 472-2044, write to P.O. Box 2260, Buckhannon, WV 26201, or e-mail nfetty@appalachian-center.org.
By Ken Ward Jr. Staff writer
Last year, Nathan Fetty watched his community suffer through the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine disaster. Now, the Buckhannon resident is going to do something to help coal miners across the state deal with safety problems.
Fetty is starting a new project to provide free legal services to miners who have voiced safety concerns and then been retaliated against.
“Living in the community and watching the Sago disaster unfold was really gut-wrenching,” Fetty said. “It impacted the whole community, and it impacted me. I wanted to do something to help.”
This month, Fetty launched the West Virginia Mine Safety Project, an initiative of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.
“The coal industry has a duty to provide safe workplaces for miners,” he said. “This project gives miners a place to turn for help when they need to speak up about safety problems.”
Federal and state laws prohibit coal operators from firing or otherwise discriminating against miners for voicing safety concerns. Miners who feel they were punished for safety complaints can seek back pay and reinstatement.
Despite these legal protections, many miners fear retaliation if they complain about unsafe conditions, said Tony Oppegard, who founded a similar project in Kentucky and has represented coal miners in discrimination cases for years.
“Discrimination against coal miners for making safety complaints or for refusing to work in unsafe conditions is especially prevalent in non-union mines, where miners don’t have the benefit of safety committeemen to help resolve safety-related disputes with management,” Oppegard said.
“The right to refuse unsafe work is the coal miner’s ultimate way to protect his safety when faced with intolerable working conditions,” he said. “But that right is meaningless if the miner doesn’t have a knowledgeable attorney who is willing to advocate and fight for him.”
Fetty, 30, is no stranger to fighting coal companies. While still a student at West Virginia Wesleyan College, he worked for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. He continued that work after graduating, serving the coalition as both a lobbyist and grass-roots organizer.
While attending West Virginia University’s College of Law, Fetty worked with the Appalachian Center, representing citizens and conservation organizations in pollution litigation.
Fetty’s interest in public interest law began while he worked for the Rivers Coalition, and only grew during his previous stint with the Appalachian Center.
“I just saw a lot of need for public interest law, and a need for people to do that sort of work, especially as it relates to the coal industry,” he said. “I felt like without a law degree I was just beating my head against the wall.”
Fetty’s work will be funded by a fellowship from the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, a project of the New York-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Skadden’s program, described as a “legal Peace Corps,” provides one-year fellowships — with an expectation of renewal for a second year — to provide legal services for the poor, the elderly, the homeless and disabled, and to those deprived of their civil or human rights.
Fetty modeled his project after the Mine Safety Project in Kentucky, which was recently revived by Wes Addington at the Appalachian Citizens Law Center in Prestonsburg, Ky.
In one case finalized in 2006, Addington helped win back pay and a $10,000 civil penalty from a Kentucky operator who had fired four workers for complaining about unsafe conditions and bad brakes on a coal scoop.
Fetty says he’s going to focus on discrimination cases, but also will follow the implementation of new mine safety rules and could challenge any government delays. Short of filing lawsuits, Fetty also hopes to help miners understand their legal safety rights more clearly.
Investigations at the Sago Mine, Fetty said, showed how poor enforcement and failure to follow through on tough regulations could cost miners their lives.
“It seems like there was a wholesale failure on the part of the regulatory scheme,” he said. “It was a disaster from top to bottom. There were so many things that went wrong that shouldn’t have gone wrong.”
Fetty will not, however, handle cases for miners who have been injured in workplace accidents.
There are many skilled and dedicated lawyers helping miners who have been injured at work,” he said. “We’re doing something a little different — that is, we hope to help coal miners before tragedy strikes.”
At the Appalachian Center, Fetty will bring a new twist to that Lewisburg-based organization.
“Until now, the Appalachian Center’s work has focused on environmental issues associated with coal mining in the region,” said Joe Lovett, the center’s executive director. “The center is proud to sponsor the Mine Safety Project because Mr. Fetty’s work will help to broaden the Appalachian Center’s efforts to promote a just and sustainable economy in West Virginia’s coal-producing counties.”
Coal miners who need the Mine Safety Project’s help can call (304) 472-2044, write to P.O. Box 2260, Buckhannon, WV 26201, or e-mail nfetty@appalachian-center.org.
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