Giannoulias: Officials Owe It to Workers to Make Mines Safe

Press Release

Illinois Treasurer and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Alexi Giannoulias unveiled a 10-point plan Monday designed to make mine work safer.

Giannoulias, who spoke to mine workers and officials in Benton, said lax oversight, regulatory loopholes and profit-driven corporations all play a role in tragedies like the recent death of 29 miners lost in the Upper Big Branch in West Virginia.

"The tragedy...is compounded by the fact that their deaths may have been able to be prevented," Giannoulias said, adding officials owe it to the people doing dangerous mine work to make the work environment as safe as possible.

Giannoulias' 10-point plan includes measures to increase safety precautions before miners step into the mines, increases the power of regulatory bodies and addresses environmental concerns like water pollution.

The 10 components are as follows:

* Require pumping of methane before a mine is used. Investigators believe that concentrated methane gas was behind the Upper Big Branch explosion. Congress should pass legislation requiring coal companies to pump out the methane gas before mining a coal deposit.
* Require testing on faulty equipment. Congress should pass legislation requiring more accurate testing to determine the flammability of conveyor belts and other mine equipment, which make up the most common causes of mine fires.
* Prevent coal-dust explosions. Coal-dust is the clear cause of many of the largest mine disasters in U.S. history - a 2006 study identified 281 fires and explosions that killed 119 workers and injured 718 others. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration should develop a comprehensive regulatory standard designed to prevent dust explosions.
* Give regulators the power to stop production if the company fails to address safety violations. Congress should provide the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) with subpoena authority and give officials the power to stop production at a mine if a company fails to address violations in a timely manner.
* Deal with the backlog of cases. The backlog of cases at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has soared from 2,100 in 2006 to 16,600 today. Congress should appropriate funds to hire more Judges to help clear out the jam of disputed violations.
* Improve training of inspectors. The 2006 MINER Act was an important step in addressing the urgent gaps in mine safety protections. The bill called for the hiring of hundreds of new inspectors; however, many have not been sufficiently trained. The MSHA should improve the training process.
* Encourage whistleblowers. Congress should appropriate funds for the MSHA to hire miner ombudsmen to field whistleblower complaints.
* Allow the MSHA to lead rescue efforts. Congress should pass legislation mandating that the MSHA take the lead on rescue efforts and provide funds to hire more family liaisons.
* Eliminate black lung disease. The MSHA should publish a rule to further lower the permissible level of coal mine dust in an effort to finally eliminate this preventable disease which has killed 10,000 miners in the last decade.
* Address water pollution. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data shows that high levels of toxicity in water downstream from mining operations in Kentucky and West Virginia persist. The EPA should require more special toxicity testing by mining operators to help identify water pollution.

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