Safety Inspections are Warnings to Owners, Operators & Others ~ Who Cares?
Jim Justice sometimes visits the State Capitol in Charleston, WV
From an Article by Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette, Aug 1, 2023
Federal mine regulators found dozens of mine safety violations at a Logan County mine in Gov. Jim Justice’s coal business empire during a June inspection reserved for mines with a poor compliance history. Coal companies controlled by Justice and his family have a long history of mine safety violations and delinquent safety fines.
Gov. Jim Justice’s coal empire has again run afoul of federal mine regulators, who have a specific phrase for a violation they found at a mine in Logan County during a recent inspection there: “unwarrantable failure.”
The Mine Safety and Health Administration issued the Kentucky Fuel Corp. an “unwarrantable failure” order for failing to maintain effective dust control measures at a drill at the WV-3 Surface Mine.
MSHA said it found that violation and dozens of others during a June 6 impact inspection of the mine, which the agency says is controlled by Gov. Justice’s son, James C. “Jay” Justice III. The agency performs impact inspections at mines it finds merit greater enforcement due to poor compliance history, accidents or injuries. It deems violations unwarrantable failures when an inspector finds aggravated conduct that constitutes more than ordinary negligence.
More violations were issued resulting from the WV-3 Surface Mine impact inspection — 42 — than any other mine in the country in June, according to MSHA data. Of those 42 violations, a nation-highest 17 were deemed “Significant and Substantial” by the agency, a designation reserved for violations reasonably likely to result in serious injury.
MSHA singled out the drill dust control-focused unwarrantable failure finding in a Monday news release, noting that drill operators face heightened risk of exposure to carcinogenic silica dust, which is significantly more toxic than coal dust alone.
“The Mine Safety and Health Administration remains troubled by the fact that our impact inspections continue to discover the same hazards we’ve identified as root causes for fatal accidents and that we know can cause serious occupational illnesses,” Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Chris Williamson, a Mingo County native, said in a statement.
After years of pressure from miner advocates, MSHA last month filed a proposed rule that would lower the permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica — toxic silica dust — from 100 to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the limit the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended in 1974.
MSHA cited statutes requiring automatic warning devices be audible above surrounding levels, and correcting loading and haulage equipment defects before use, in other WV-3 Surface Mine violations issued June 6.
MSHA records show that Kentucky Fuel has $14,594 in delinquent mine safety fines for the WV-3 Surface Mine dating back to October. Gov. Justice, Jay and Jillean Justice, the governor’s daughter, were listed by MSHA as controllers of mines owing a combined $3.14 million in federal mine safety fine debt as of October.
Upon taking office in 2017, Gov. Justice said he would put his children in charge of his family’s business dealings. The governor has suggested in court proceedings and interviews since taking office that he remains familiar with his coal companies’ operations.
Another Jay Justice-controlled mine, the Frontier Coal Co.-operated Belcher Branch Mine in Wyoming County, was responsible for 16 out of 77 Significant and Substantial violations issued by MSHA after February impact inspections.
June impact inspections found violations at two other West Virginia mines: the Kanawha Eagle Mining LLC-operated Winchester Peerless Rachel Mine in Boone County and the Century Mining LLC-operated Longview Mine in Barbour County.
The latter mine, controlled by Greenwich, Connecticut-based American Metals and Coal International Inc., was the site of a fatal accident in March. Century Mining surveyor Cecil Barker Jr., 62, died March 22 after a rubber-tired vehicle rolled backward, contacted a coal rib and overturned, trapping Barker under the 3,100-pound vehicle, according to state mine inspectors.
Interviews for a state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training report indicated placement of the vehicle emergency stop button allowed it to be accidentally depressed by operators and passengers. Mine management couldn’t find any operator manuals for the vehicle, the Grace Equipment Co. Inc.’s #2 Stryker 72, at the start of the investigation, per the report.
The Winchester Peerless Rachel Mine is controlled by Sev.en Energy, a Liechtenstein-based company that also controls the Coalburg Tunnel Mine in Kanawha County, where roof bolter Kristofer Ball, 33, died after contacting an energized 480-volt trailing cable on Sept. 1, 2022.
The accident took place because mine operator Kanawha Eagle Mining didn’t fully protect the cable or provide sufficient task training for handling it, MSHA said in a final incident report.