White House Wants To Investigate Causes Of Mine Disaster, After They Contributed To It

by Steve

Before we let the Bush White House reframe the West Virginia mine disaster as a problem they will investigate and fix, let’s please remind the media that it was Bush’s Department of Labor that negligently let this mine stay open after a tripling in safety violations in 2005 over 2004, and a significant four-fold increase in citations under the new ownership of International Coal Group since they took over the mine in 2004, and after it’s new CEO was alleged to have evaded environmental requirements at his previous mining company.

And for those of you who want to blame West Virginia for this, please note that mine safety is a federal issue, no matter whether or not a state has decided to set up its own occupational safety program. The feds retain direct responsibility for mine safety under that part of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Post edited for clarity and accuracy