Obama orders sweeping review of coal mines as report cites preventable gas and dust buildup

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Obama orders a review of troubled coal mines

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered a sweeping review of coal mines with poor safety records and called on federal officials to strengthen laws “so riddled with loopholes that they allow unsafe conditions to continue.”

Obama spoke after receiving a preliminary report on last week’s deadly mine explosion in West Virginia that suggests the blast may have been caused by a preventable buildup of methane gas mixing with coal dust.

The report from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and mine safety officials cautioned that the specific cause of the blast at the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 workers died is still being determined. But it raised serious concerns about a major spike in safety violations at the mine owned by Massey Energy Co.

The report says the rate of serious violations in 2009 that required mine workers to leave while immediate repairs were made was nearly 19 times the national rate.

“In short, this was a mine with a significant history of safety issues, a mine operated by a company with a history of violations, and a mine and company that (the Mine Safety and Health Administration) was watching closely,” the report said.

Obama said the report showed there are far too many mines where safety is inadequate. He directed Solis to work closely with Congress to strengthen existing laws and eliminate loopholes that allow mines to evade more serious enforcement through “endless litigation.”

“We need to take a hard look at our own practices and our own procedures,” Obama told reporters in the Rose Garden.

While Obama conceded the government was partly at fault for the disaster, he laid most of the blame for the latest accident on the mine’s owner.

“Safety violators like Massey have still been able to find ways to put their bottom line before the safety of their workers — filing endless appeals instead of paying fines and fixing safety problems,” Obama said.

Massey Energy issued a statement calling Obama’s remarks “regrettable” and defended its safety record.

“Massey believes in safety, accountability and responsibility,” the statement said. “We seek the truth in the ongoing investigations and are cooperating with federal and state agencies to determine the cause of the tragic accident at Upper Big Branch Mine.”

The statement added, “Unfortunately, some are rushing to judgment for political gain or to avoid blame.”

Under the current system, mining companies can file lengthy appeals that last months or years, overwhelming government officials and delaying a finding of a pattern of violations that would lead to tougher enforcement.

Mine companies have been appealing more violations since new safety laws went into effect following the 2006 Sago Mine disaster that killed 12 workers. The increase has led to a backlog of more than 16,000 cases at the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.

The preliminary report said Massey took advantage of the backlog by contesting most of the serious violations issued to the Upper Big Branch mine. In 2007, the mine contested 97 percent of all serious violations, the report said.

Massey claims its record of filing appeals to violations is similar to that for the industry as a whole.

Obama asked Solis to streamline the rules for proving that a mining company has committed a pattern of violations so government officials can act more quickly to prevent another accident.

The preliminary report recommends giving MSHA the power to subpoena companies to turn over information during investigations and changing federal law to make knowing violations of safety laws felonies instead of misdemeanors.

The report also takes a swipe at the Bush administration. “The policies this administration inherited make it relatively easy for operators like Massey to avoid pattern of violation status,” it said.

Obama said the government would act to quickly get inspectors into mines across the nation that have troubling safety records. He also told federal mine safety officials to work closely with state counterparts to improve mine safety.

Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation who met with Solis and mine safety officials said it would take months for an investigation to reveal what caused the explosion.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin on Wednesday ordered state safety officials to inspect all underground mines in the state immediately, beginning with ones that had been cited for combustion-related violations. He also ordered a one-day halt to all coal mining activity on Friday.

Associated Press writer Frederic J. Frommer contributed to this report.