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Abramoff's downfall, and the lawmakers he may take with him. The roots of the horrific events underneath the earth in timeworn West Virginia, and the scandal on the tony sidewalks of Washington's K Street, are as deeply intertwined as those aspens out west, maybe more so. It's a connection that can be summed up in three simple words: Republicans gone wild. The confluence of big business and too-powerful lobbyists, including the revolving door between K Street and federal government, the casual and cynical selling-off of the safety net for blue collar and low wage workers, the arrogance and secrecy that come with unchecked political power in one party -- these are all the hallmarks of Abramoff and his alleged influence peddling on Capital Hill. But a review of the way that Washington has treated the coal industry in America since 2001 -- and the Sago mine in particular -- show all of these exact same problems coming to roost in the steep hills of West Virginia.
lobbyist-friendly former coal-industry officials to run the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, setting the stage for a transformation of a worker-safety agency into a tool of the industry. During this time, MSHA has sought to weaken regulations regarding airborne coal dust -- a possible cause of Monday's deadly explosion. Even with a reduced emphasis on inspections, federal agents found a growing pattern of serious safety violations at Sago over the last two years, yet imposed fines amounting to less than a slap on the wrist. And the United Mine Workers, the most forceful advocate for worker safety, is gone -- the result of a powerful new coal conglomerate granted power by a GOP-appointed bankruptcy judge to take over troubled mines like Sago and cancel labor agreements. This story from today's Washington Post (on its favored dumping ground, Pg.
this damning summation: Time and again over the past four years, federal mining inspectors documented the same litany of problems at central West Virginia's Sago Mine: mine roofs that tended to collapse without warning.
But even assuming that the initial explosion was sparked by a lightning bolt, the mine disaster is an act of God in the same sense that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God -- a natural disaster made far worse by the folly of man.
Dave Lauriski, did "a heck of a job" -- for big business. Lauriski came into Washington in May 2001 with 30 years of experience as a coal company executive and consultant. He had been the safety director at a mine in Utah when a fire there killed 27 workers in 1984. Union officials worried that Lauriski would tilt toward business and away from worker safety, and he pretty much confirmed their fears. Remember, Jack Abramoff isn't the only lobbyist with clout in George W Bush's Washington. Joe Main, the UMW's health and safety director, said he has not had a meeting with Lauriski since June 2002. The issue of coal dust was a particularly thorny one for MSHA during Lauriski's tenure. in Utah, one of the largest underground coal producers, offered a replacement rule. It would have allowed an increase in coal dust, to be offset by miners wearing protective breathing helmets, rather than investing in better ventilation and water to tamp down the dust. " Congress intervened, and the plan for regulating coal dust went back to the drawing board. It's unfortunate that nothing at all was worked out and implemented, since it's possible that a buildup of coal dust sparked this week's fatal blast in Sago.
Suburban Guerrilla): McAteer thinks that while it is possible that lightning may have ignited the explosion, he isn't aware of any other such instances. First, even if lightning did strike the mine and somehow find its way underground, the lightning would only be the ignition source. There are two likely fuel sources in mines: methane gas and coal dust. The Sago mine reportedly had low levels of methane, although a rise in the barometric pressure can cause methane to be liberated faster. A small explosion that kicks up a cloud of coal dust can generate a much larger secondary explosion. The mine was cited by MSHA 21 times last year for an "accumulation of combustible materials." Dry winter air also makes coal dust explosions more likely.
that same article in the Post today: In the past two years, the mine was cited 273 times for safety violations, of which about a third were classified as "significant and substantial," according to documents compiled by the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Many were for problems that could contribute to accidental explosions or the collapse of mine tunnels, records show. In addition, 16 violations logged in the past eight months were listed as "unwarrantable failures," a designation reserved for serious safety infractions for which the operator had either already been warned, or which showed "indifference or extreme lack of care," said Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA senior adviser. "That is a very high number, and it is usually indicative of a very poor safety record," Oppegard said. The Post said the rate of worker days lost to injury at Sago was double the national average and "in the past year, large sections of the mine's rocky roof collapsed on at least 20 occasions -- but not when workers were in the affected tunnels." Yet the penalties proposed by the government at Sago had less impact than a buzzing gnat.
Bloomberg noted today: The largest individual fine last year was $440; the citations for combustible materials carried fines of $60.... Phil Smith, the communications director for the United Mine Workers of America, in Washington, said the fines assessed for safety violations are too small to force large corporations to make improvements. We could get pulled over for speeding and pay more than that,'' said Smith, who said the Sago mine was non-union. He left just 16 days after last November's presidential election -- to take a job with a mine industry consulting firm. To replace him, the Bush administration picked Richard Stickler, yet another industry official who once ran mines that, according to the UMW, had injury rates that were double the national average -- just like Sago. Of course, it's been harder under the Bush administration to look at those records.
Chao, the Labor Department has refused to release coal mine inspection reports that had previously been routinely available to mine operators; blocked out long sections of an inspector general's report on the Martin County coal-waste spill; and even refused to divulge basic biographical information about officials who had been appointed to high positions in MSHA. Two months ago, Sago was bought out of bankruptcy by International Coal Group, headed by so-called "vulture capitalist" (and, it must be noted, Democratic donor and John Kerry pal) Wilbur Ross. ICG's strategy hinges on slashing so-called "legacy costs," dumping pensions on the federal government, slashing health benefits and either going non-union -- as at Sago -- or brokering contracts more favorable to management.
supported by a Kentucky federal bankruptcy judge appointed under the president's father in 1990. The UMW is far from perfect, but given the safety problems at Sago, is there any doubt that the workers there needed some forceful advocacy. Indeed, the wall-to-wall coverage from the rural Appalachian outpost reminds us a lot of the Katrina footage -- a rare glimpse from the mainstream media into that "other America" that apparently only forces its way into the conciousness of most wealthier and media-savvy zip codes when dead bodies begin to pile up. These struggling work-a-day people look and seem a million miles away from the white linen tableclothes of K Street restaurants and the plush corporate jets where lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and revolving-door bureaucrats and well-fed lawmakers are making the cold policy decisions that affect their lives. But until people make that connection between the corruption on one end of the American political pipeline and the human misery on the other end, these problems will linger in the air like toxic coal dust. A few seconds ago, we watched President Bush ...
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