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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A key House leader is pressing the Obamaadministration for answers about whether U.S. Labor Departmentinspectors may have tipped off Massey Energy officials aboutinspections at the company's Upper Big Branch Mine prior to theApril 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners. House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., hasasked the department's Mine Safety and Health Administration for avariety of records about the matter. Kline cited sworn statements by one-time Upper Big Branchsuperintendent Gary May that MSHA inspectors regularly told companyofficials when they planned to visit the Raleigh County mine. "I recognize the MSHA has made the eradication of advancenotice by mine operators an enforcement priority," Kline saidin a letter sent last week to MSHA chief Joe Main. "However,it is unclear whether you have made an equal effort to ensure MSHApersonnel are not -- even inadvertently -- providing advancednotice of inspections." Kline asked MSHA to provide records about MSHA guidance on advancenotice of inspections, citations issued to mine operators relatedto advance notice, and documents about any instances where agencyofficials did or were alleged to have warned operators aboutimpending inspections. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin has already said his office isinvestigating the allegations made by May when he pleaded guilty aspart of a deal that has him cooperating with the sprawling federalcriminal investigation of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster. Mayadmitted to a one-count felony charge that he conspired to violatemine safety standards and cover up the resulting unsafe conditions. Among other things, May 43, of Bloomingrose, admitted he took partin a scheme to provide advance warning of government inspectionsand then hide or correct violations before federal agents couldmake it into working sections of the sprawling mine. During a March 29 plea hearing in Beckley, U.S. District JudgeIrene Berger asked May to explain who took part in that conspiracywith him. "It started, you know, from the MSHA inspectors coming on theproperty," May testified under oath. "Sometimes theywould tell us, you know, they'd be back tomorrow or where they weregoing. And it went from there to telling everybody that wasoutside, you know, just scatter word by mouth on the phone, andthey would tell whoever was underground. "It's just something that happened from the time I got thereuntil after I left and happened at every mine I've ever beento," May told Berger. Berger pressed May on the matter, and asked him after May conferredwith his lawyer, "When you said earlier that it began withinspectors coming onto the property and saying, 'We'll be backtomorrow,' was it or was it not your intention to indicate thatthese inspectors were part of the conspiracy that you've told meabout Mr. May?" May responded, "I don't believe it's a conspiracy, but Ithink, in my opinion, if they would let me know that [an inspectionwas planned], I would let everyone else know that." The federal Mine Safety and Health Act makes it clear that, incarrying out its inspection duties, MSHA is not to provide advancenotice of inspections to anyone. Agency policy mandates that"any information relating to inspection and investigationschedules" be restricted solely to MSHA personnel who have aneed for such information. Federal law also makes it a crime for anyone to give advance noticeof any MSHA inspection. Anyone convicted of doing so can face up tosix months in jail and a $1,000 fine. In the wake of Upper Big Branch, MSHA officials have focused onwhat they say was Massey's intentional program of security guardsgiving underground crews advance notice of inspections. MSHAconcluded that such warnings allowed Massey to cover up unsafeconditions at Upper Big Branch, and were a major contributingfactor in the April 5, 2010, explosion. Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702. I am an expert from multi-satellitereceiver.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Digital Terrestrial Receiver , Azbox Satellite Receiver Manufacturer, High Definition Satellite Receiver,and more.
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