Fewer than half of the inspectors with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration are working during the continuing federal government shutdown, and they’re focused mainly on mines the agency already knows have a history of hazards. MSHA’s shutdown plan …
A southern West Virginia mine foreman faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to falsifying safety reports at four mining operations. Federal prosecutors say 36-year-old Craig Belcher of Bluefield pleaded guilty Monday to providing a false statement, …
Action on key federal mine safety and health rules are is lagging, including a rule aimed at lowering exposure to coal dust that causes deadly black lung disease. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was expected to issue the …
With five coal mining fatalities in West Virginia so far this year, Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall is renewing his push for tougher federal laws. He and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., are co-sponsoring a new version of legislation that’s languished …
Federal regulators and safety officials should consider requiring more backup air supplies and work to develop better breathing devices that would help the nation’s coal miners escape underground emergencies, a panel of experts said in a new report. The report …
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Wednesday asked coal companies to halt production for an hour to review safety procedures following the state’s fourth mining fatality in two weeks and the sixth since November. Tomblin signed an executive order …
Labor Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced a final rule to strengthen safety in the nation’s most dangerous mines. Solis said that the rule, which revises the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s pattern of violations regulation, seeks to ensure …
Federal inspectors must share the blame — and therefore face a lawsuit — for a 2006 West Virginia coal mine fire that killed two miners, a lawyer for their widows argued at the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. Lawyer Bruce …
Nineteen mining deaths occurred during the first six months of the year, the second-lowest midyear toll ever recorded, federal regulators said. Fourteen miners died during the same period last year. The Mine Safety and Health Administration said 10 of this …
A federal appeals court said this week that the state Supreme Court should decide whether Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors can be held liable for coal miners’ deaths, calling it “a matter of exceptional importance for West Virginia.” The …
