|
Senator Byrd on Monday renewed his call for prompt movement of the West Virginia Congressional Delegation’s mine safety bill, emphasizing that every day of delay increases the risk for miners in the field.
“Sixteen West Virginia coal miners are dead, in four separate accidents, in only 36 days! These deaths have shaken communities across the State of West Virginia, and alarmed a nation,” Byrd said.
“The West Virginia Congressional Delegation has introduced legislation outlining a series of actions that can be taken immediately to make America’s coal mines safer. We know that technology exists right now to improve mine rescue communications. We know that additional emergency breathing devices can be stored in the mines. The Senate could pass the West Virginia Delegation bill today to implement these requirements in the mines. I see no reason why this Senate cannot move expeditiously. We should, and, in fact, we must!” Byrd said during a speech on the Senate floor.
Senator Byrd has asked the Republican and Democratic Leadership to schedule action quickly on the legislation. A bipartisan and growing coalition of Senators from mining and non-mining states has been added as cosponsors of the bill.
“The longer we wait to approve this legislation, the more likely it is that additional miners will die. If more miners die, then more mines could be closed, and for longer periods of time, in order to ensure safety. Mine closures not only will put families out of work, but will also disrupt coal and energy production, with the economic effects rippling across the national economy,” Byrd stated.
“We must never forget that a coal miner has the legal right to walk out of an unsafe coal mine. A miner cannot be forced to work if he feels his life is threatened. Today, when coal provides such an important part of this Nation’s energy supply, and our Nation is dangerously dependent on foreign oil, we must keep our coal mines open and operating, but first we must make them safe,” the Senator added. The Delegation’s legislation focuses on several areas, including:
- Rapid Notification and Response -- require MSHA to establish a rapid notification and response system, and require coal operators to expeditiously notify MSHA of emergencies, or subject themselves to a $100,000 fine. It took 11 hours before the rescue operation at Sago entered the mine;
- Emergency Communications and Breathing Equipment -- require coal operators to store additional emergency breathing caches underground, and require emergency communications equipment for surface rescue efforts to locate and communicate with miners underground. The Sago miners had only one hour of oxygen to last through a forty-hour rescue operation, and that no communication was possible with the trapped miners at both Sago and Alma;
- Penalties -- create a new mandatory minimum penalty of $10,000 for coal operators that show “negligence or reckless disregard” for mandatory health and safety standards. Sago had 276 safety violations, and paid fines as low as $99 for “significant and substantial” violations;
- Belt Entries -- nullify an MSHA rule issued in 2004 that authorizes the use of belt entries for ventilation, which may have caused the Alma fire;
- Technology -- create a science and technology transfer office in MSHA to pull research and development ideas from other federal agencies for use in the mines; and
- Miner Ombudsman -- create an ombudsman in the Department of Labor ’s Inspector General office for miners to report safety violations.
“For the sake of America’s coal miners, their families, and their communities, and for the sake of the energy security of our Nation, I urge that this much-needed legislation be approved as soon as possible. There is a moral imperative to act, and we must not delay,” Byrd said.
###
|
|
