Sunday, November 07, 2010
MSHA Attempting To Close Kentucky Mine
WEST VIRGINIA...
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is breaking new legal ground by attempting to close a mine by bringing a federal lawsuit against the owners. The lawsuit seeks to close Freedom Energy No. 1 mine, located in Sidney, Ky.
The mine, a subsidiary of Massey Energy, has a history of safety violations, and MSHA wants to shut the mine down until the violations are corrected and plans to prevent future violations are in place.MSHA, which operates under the Department of Labor, said it has never attempted to obtain such an injunction before, but is considering several more lawsuits
However, due to the mine's age and size, the Company is considering idling the mine until it can ensure that the mine will meet current MSHA standards
Under its safety and health management program it must, among other things, establish an effective training and communications program, take additional air readings in critical areas and withdraw all miners when violations are found and pay miners who are idled by such withdrawals.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:05 AM 
