From Deseret News archives:
MSHA emergency plans criticized
The report comes just before the Senate will hear Thursday from MSHA head Richard Stickler and other witnesses about the latest efforts to improve mine safety.
Murray Energy chief Bob Murray was expected to testify about last year's accident at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Emery County before the same Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Thursday, but senators have told him he can wait until after MSHA completes its investigation into the accident.
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and top Republican Arlen Specter, R-Pa., sent a letter obtained by the Deseret Morning News to attorney Barry Levine, saying that they have postponed Murray's appearance, but a subpoena issued in November is still in effect until further notice.
The subcommittee still will hear from Elliot P. Lewis, assistant inspector general for audit in the Labor Department's Inspector General Office. Lewis signed the IG report issued last week that blamed MSHA for negligence leading up to the collapse.
"It is uncertain whether all miners will be adequately protected in the event of an accident," according to the GAO report. "We found that some plans did not specify the protections to be provided, and the amount of information about these protections varied from plan to plan."
A backlog of permissible breathable air equipment under the MINER Act has forced most mines to wait for it, and MSHA has not determined what technology would be acceptable to use to meet the mid-2009 deadline for wireless communication to help talk to or locate trapped miners, GAO found.
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