Friday, September 17, 2010
MSHA Investigation Nearly Complete
WEST VIRGINIA....
MSHA investigators who are looking into the cause of the April 5th explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine say they are taking a closer look at rock dust levels, and the investigation is nearly complete. During a September 17 conference, MSHA administrator Kevin Stricklin said nearly 80 percent of the 1,803 rock dust samples taken at the mine are considered “non-complaint” and did not meet minimum standards. Stricklin and MSHA Secretary Joe Main have declined to say whether the lack of rock dust was the main culprit for the explosion, but they say it could have contributed to it. In response to MSHA’s findings, Massey says this is not the first time the federal agency has tried to use “unproven or faulty coal dust claims in their investigation efforts. Massey says, in 2005, MSHA's same theory was rejected in a lawsuit filed by Jim Walter Resources Inc. against MSHA which has failed to learn the lessons from its prior investigative mistakes.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:54 AM 
