Will Justice Finally Be Served in the Crandall Mine Disaster?
Posted by Kaz at 5/9/2008 3:39 PM and is filed under labor,Energy,Legal,Environment,Impeachment,Government,Bushites 
Will justice finally be served in the Crandall mine disaster? How much longer will Americans tolerate corporate crimes that put profits ahead of workers' safety and cause needless deaths?
According to the NYTimes, "The general manager and possibly other senior staff members at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, where nine miners died last August, withheld information from federal officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face a criminal inquiry, the chairman of a Congressional investigation said Thursday.
"The chairman, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, accused the company of concealing the extent of an earlier collapse in the mine that involved the same high-risk technique, retreat mining, that was being used when the disaster began.
"Mr. Miller said that if federal mine officials had known the extent of that earlier collapse, they would not have allowed the company to continue using the method, in which miners remove coal from the pillars that hold up the tunnels.
"Mr. Miller disclosed that he had sent a referral letter late last month to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate whether the mine’s manager, Laine W. Adair, on his own or in conspiracy with others in the company, concealed facts or made false statements to federal investigators about the condition of the mine before the disaster.
"On Aug. 6, the pillars that supported the roof in a section of the mine gave way in a major collapse that left six miners fatally entombed. Ten days later, three miners who were working as rescuers died after more tunnels fell.
"The deaths were avoidable, Mr. Miller said. He cited the investigation’s findings that in March, five months before the disaster in the south section of the mine, a similar collapse had occurred in a northern section, offering clear “red flags” that the mine was unstable.
"Rather than informing the proper federal mining officials about the true extent of the March collapse, the investigation by the House Committee on Education and Labor found that the mine operator cleaned up the site and went on with work in a nearby section."
The AFL-CIO blog states, "In a statement, Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts urged the Justice Department “to fully and completely investigate these matters, without regard to where that investigation may lead.”
Bush's loyalist corporate hack, Richard Stickler, was head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, a bungling profits first incompetent, politicized Bushite like the rest of Bush's appointments.
As Think Progress reports, "The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) came under severe criticism for its mismanagement of August’s Crandall Canyon mine collapse in Utah. Nine men died, including six trapped after the initial cave-in and three rescue workers. Many safety experts questioned why the MSHA allowed “anyone, including rescuers, into the still-dangerous mine.”
"Overseeing the effort as head of MSHA was Richard Stickler, a former Murray Beth Energy executive. The Senate had twice rejected his nomination because the mines he managed “incurred injury rates double the national average.” Stickler had also stated that he believed no new laws or regulations were needed for mine safety.
"The Bush administration was evidently so happy with Stickler’s job performance that President Bush yesterday renamed him as acting assistant secretary.
"As The New York Times recently noted, Bush “has left whole agencies of the executive branch to be run largely by acting or interim appointees,” who have not been approved by the Senate. The Senate has repeatedly had to convene pro forma sessions in order to prevent Bush from giving these controversial nominees recess appointments."
It's not just Crandall mine executives who deserve to be in the slammer.
But impeachment is still off the table.
According to the NYTimes, "The general manager and possibly other senior staff members at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, where nine miners died last August, withheld information from federal officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face a criminal inquiry, the chairman of a Congressional investigation said Thursday.
"The chairman, Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, accused the company of concealing the extent of an earlier collapse in the mine that involved the same high-risk technique, retreat mining, that was being used when the disaster began.
"Mr. Miller said that if federal mine officials had known the extent of that earlier collapse, they would not have allowed the company to continue using the method, in which miners remove coal from the pillars that hold up the tunnels.
"Mr. Miller disclosed that he had sent a referral letter late last month to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate whether the mine’s manager, Laine W. Adair, on his own or in conspiracy with others in the company, concealed facts or made false statements to federal investigators about the condition of the mine before the disaster.
"On Aug. 6, the pillars that supported the roof in a section of the mine gave way in a major collapse that left six miners fatally entombed. Ten days later, three miners who were working as rescuers died after more tunnels fell.
"The deaths were avoidable, Mr. Miller said. He cited the investigation’s findings that in March, five months before the disaster in the south section of the mine, a similar collapse had occurred in a northern section, offering clear “red flags” that the mine was unstable.
"Rather than informing the proper federal mining officials about the true extent of the March collapse, the investigation by the House Committee on Education and Labor found that the mine operator cleaned up the site and went on with work in a nearby section."
The AFL-CIO blog states, "In a statement, Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts urged the Justice Department “to fully and completely investigate these matters, without regard to where that investigation may lead.”
Yet for all the analyses, all the insights and all the investigations, the fact remains that nine miners are dead today who should not be. Family members have wept and been left inconsolable. Wives, parents and children are without husbands, sons and fathers. Our nation and its leaders can no longer watch these tragedies unfold, wring our hands and say, ‘How horrible,’ then stand aside and do little to prevent them.
"This is the third report faulting the mining company and federal officials for the disaster last August. The U.S. Department of Labor’s inspector general found that MSHA was “negligent” when it approved the mining plan."
Bush's loyalist corporate hack, Richard Stickler, was head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, a bungling profits first incompetent, politicized Bushite like the rest of Bush's appointments.
As Think Progress reports, "The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) came under severe criticism for its mismanagement of August’s Crandall Canyon mine collapse in Utah. Nine men died, including six trapped after the initial cave-in and three rescue workers. Many safety experts questioned why the MSHA allowed “anyone, including rescuers, into the still-dangerous mine.”
"Overseeing the effort as head of MSHA was Richard Stickler, a former Murray Beth Energy executive. The Senate had twice rejected his nomination because the mines he managed “incurred injury rates double the national average.” Stickler had also stated that he believed no new laws or regulations were needed for mine safety.
"The Bush administration was evidently so happy with Stickler’s job performance that President Bush yesterday renamed him as acting assistant secretary.
"As The New York Times recently noted, Bush “has left whole agencies of the executive branch to be run largely by acting or interim appointees,” who have not been approved by the Senate. The Senate has repeatedly had to convene pro forma sessions in order to prevent Bush from giving these controversial nominees recess appointments."
It's not just Crandall mine executives who deserve to be in the slammer.
But impeachment is still off the table.
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