Mining experts decry cuts in safety funding

WASHINGTON — The Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy has renewed criticisms from mining experts that cuts to funding for federal mine-safety enforcement and a shift in policies during the Bush administration have put coal miners' safety at risk.

A Deseret Morning News review of the administration's fiscal year requests compared to what Congress ultimately approved shows that while the White House requests increased slightly each year from the 2002 to 2006 fiscal years, the requests did not exceed or even match what Congress had approved in each prior year when adjusted for inflation.

Meanwhile, the number of coal-mine safety inspectors with the Mine Safety and Health Administration also decreased during those years.

The Aug. 6 collapse at the Crandall Canyon Mine trapped six coal miners, and three rescue workers were killed and six others injured in trying to reach them. National mine experts say the accident in Utah is a sign there is a need for more federal reform of mine-safety requirements, and the stagnant federal budgets for MSHA and decrease in inspectors may be partly to blame.

"It's not a coincidence there were zero mine disasters under the Clinton administration," said former federal mine safety official Tony Oppegard, who is now a lawyer in Lexington, Ky. "We are reaping now what has been sown."

A review last year of MSHA's performance between 2001 and 2005 by the House Education and Labor Committee Democratic staff noted budget decreases and accused the administration of "consistent abdication of regulatory and enforcement responsibilities."

In the 18-page report, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif, who now heads the committee, criticized the Bush administration for cutting MSHA's budget and staff, rolling back safety regulations, reducing fines for mine safety and health violations and failing to ensure that the industry keeps pace with existing mine safety technologies, such as electronic tracking and communication devices and reserve oxygen chambers.

"Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has frequently put the interests of mining executives ahead of the safety of miners," Miller said in a statement this past week to the Deseret Morning News. "The administration cut staffing levels at the Mine Safety and Health Administration. More recently, MSHA has dragged its feet in implementing mine safety reforms enacted by Congress last year. It is critical that MSHA put miners' safety first and enforce the law fully and vigorously."