Mine safety agency admits to faulty inspections

Federal inspectors failed to follow proper procedure in the 18 months leading up to the April 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia that caused 29 deaths, according to a report on an internal Labor Department review released Tuesday.

Though a December 2011 report determined that Massey Energy, the mine’s owner at the time of the explosion, violated safety procedures, the Mine Safety and Health Administration now acknowledges that inexperienced and poorly trained inspectors added to the risky set of circumstances.

"While there was no evidence linking the actions of MSHA employees to this tragedy, we found instances where enforcement efforts at [Upper Big Branch] were compromised because MSHA and District 4 did not follow established agency policies and procedures," said George Fesak, internal review team leader.

The new report delved much deeper than a version released last June, including interviews with 90 current and former mine agency employees and a review of more than 12,500 documents, officials said.

Specifically, the report faulted inspectors for inconsistent examinations of company records to identify deficiencies in the mine operator's program for cleaning up accumulations of loose coal, coal dust and float coal dust. Inspectors also failed to properly flag noncompliance with rock dust standards along belt conveyors and roof ventilation control plans. Additionally, they did not intervene as Massey “manipulated MSHA procedures to avoid complying with reduced standards for respirable coal mine dust and allowed the operator to significantly delay corrective action,” the report said.

Tight budgets and management turnover also contributed to the breakdown, investigators found.

United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts said in a statement that MSHA’s self-review “illustrates the many shortcomings of that agency with respect to enforcing the law” at the West Virginia mine. He said the poor training “is a nationwide issue at MSHA, the result of years of neglect and indifference by the Bush administration.”

The union leader did praise Assistant Labor Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Joe Main for making “the extraordinary decision to take a deeper than normal look at the systemic failures of the agency.”

The problems detailed in the report are “appalling,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said in a press release. “While MSHA has begun to take corrective actions, administrative action alone will not make our mines as safe as they should be,” he said. “We need to pass my comprehensive mine safety legislation in order to give MSHA additional enforcement authority, to provide whistleblower protections, to require routine independent accident investigations and to increase criminal penalties.”