Black lung diagnoses have doubled in the last decade, and a new investigation blames a combination of factors, including operators who cheat the system and lax enforcement by regulators. Experts have warned of the resurgence since 1995, but an investigation …
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is promoting a newly passed law that permanently revokes the credentials of miners who fail drug tests. Beshear was in Pikeville on Tuesday where he said the law sends a clear message that drug and alcohol …
The Mine Safety and Health Administration says it issued 254 citations, 19 orders and one safeguard during special inspections at West Virginia coal mines last month. Among those targeted was Argus Energy’s Deep Mine No. 8 in Wayne County, where …
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said 10 miners died in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines during the first quarter of 2012, and half of those occurred on five consecutive weekends. MSHA chief Joe Main said that three …
Federal regulators are issuing a final set of rules for underground coal mine examinations that aim to hold operators more accountable for finding and fixing dangerous conditions — and preventing the deaths of their workers. The Mine Safety and Health …
Aggressive inspections at troubled mines are helping create safer working environments for coal miners, the head of the federal government’s mine safety agency said during a visit to Kentucky. U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Joe Main met with …
A federal judge refused Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit by former Massey Energy shareholders who say they were deliberately misled about the company’s safety record before the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia killed 29 men in 2010. …
Three times in a month, regulators have caught West Virginia coal companies illegally warning miners that federal inspectors were onsite. Mine Safety and Health Administration director Joe Main says such warnings let workers disguise conditions that could endanger their lives. …
The former superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion was charged on Wednesday with felony conspiracy by tipping off mine operators to safety inspections, allowing them to conceal dangerous violations, authorities said. …
If there’s one lasting cultural change Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Joe Main wants to make in both the federal agency and the industry it regulates, it’s ending the cycle of intensity and complacency. After every high-profile disaster, regulators …
