Congress Calls For Hearings Into Administration’s Disastrous Recovery At Crandall Canyon Mine

Thursday night, three rescue workers died while trying to rescue six men trapped in the Crandall Canyon mine since a massive cave-in on Aug. 6. This second cave-in injured six other rescue workers. Many experts are now questioning why the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) allowed “anyone, including rescuers, into the still-dangerous mine.”

Yesterday, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), the Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, signaled that they will conduct hearings into the administration’s response to this recent mine tragedy:

The unfolding tragedy at the Crandall Canyon Mine has once again raised serious questions about mine safety and what we must do to improve it. The Education and Labor Committee intends to answer those questions by investigating and convening hearings at the appropriate time. Obviously, right now the only job that matters is the job of reaching the six trapped miners while limiting, as much as possible, the risk to rescuers.

At the center of this tragic recovery process is the head of MSHA, Richard Stickler. In 2006, President Bush recess-appointed Stickler, a former Murray Beth Energy executive, whom the Senate had twice rejected because the mines he managed “incurred injury rates double the national average.” Stickler has also stated that he believes no new laws or regulations are needed for mine safety.

By law, MSHA is supposed to be in charge of managing the Utah mine tragedy. But Stickler has largely stepped aside and allowed the mine’s owner, Bob Murray, to control the disaster. It took MSHA at least two days to gain public control of the situation. On Aug. 7 press briefing, Murray used a media appearance to criticize global warming proponents, and only later “emphasized that his heart and his priorities are with the trapped miners and their families.”

Despite the Bush administration’s promises to improve mine safety after the Sago mine disaster in Jan. 2006, 40 miners were killed on the job last year, more than any year since 2001. Many of the reforms passed after Sago will not go into effect until 2009.