AP: Mines' Flood of Appeals Fends Off Safety Fines

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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/07/us/AP-US-Mine-Explosion-Enforcement.html

The company that runs the West Virginia mine where an explosion killed at least 25 workers frequently sidesteps hefty fines by aggressively contesting safety violations, including recent problems with the ventilation system that clears away combustible methane gas.

Bombarding federal regulators with appeals is an increasingly common industry tactic since the 2006 Sago mine disaster that killed 12 led to stiffer fines and new enforcement to punish the worst offenders, according to an Associated Press review of records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

While the new rules aimed to make the nation's mines safer, companies responded with challenges that have backlogged MSHA with claims that go unpaid and unresolved for years. Agency officials say the maneuvers block their ability to punish repeat violators, and worker advocates fear more tragedies.

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Dennis O'Dell, health and safety director for the United Mine Workers labor union, said while one problem may get fixed the companies are still able to repeat the lapse later without any recourse for safety officials to fix the trend. As a bonus, after years of appeals, mining firms are winning average reductions of 47 percent from the review process, he said. Upper Big Branch is a nonunion mine.

''If I'm an operator, why wouldn't I do it,'' O'Dell said. ''But in the end, you've endangered miners lives because of it. It's not the right thing to do.''