Date: 2011-06-02
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker and Members of the House. a little more than a year ago. 29 coal miners lost their lives in the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. Our Nation watched with sadness as a small community felt the lash of the worst coal mining tragedy in this country in four decades. Shortly after the tragedy. our Nation promised these families to get to the bottom of what happened and we promised to make sure that something like this would never happen again. The good news is that we learned a lot about what caused this tragedy in the last year. Last month. an independent panel of experts appointed by the Governor of West Virginia released the results of a 13monthlong investigation. They concluded that the explosion was preventable. The panel said that the warning signs about dangerous conditions in the mine were ignored leading up to the tragedy. They found that the Massey Energy Company ignored basic safety precautions that the mining industry has recognized for more than a century. Repeated violations had become business as usual. something which the investigation called "a normalization of deviance." where unsafe behavior and conditions became normal at Upper Big Branch mine. The report lays out how this tragedy unfolded. It may have ended with a sudden explosion. but it was a slowmotion disaster. The companys inadequate ventilation system allowed explosive gases to build up. Workers were slogging in 9 Printed on recycled paper. neckdeep water that obstructed the air currents needed to ventilate methane gas. The mines owners routinely illegally changed ventilation plans and used faulty engineering. In the months before the explosion. miners asked Massey management 561 times to quench the explosive potential of coal dust by applying rock dust. yet Massey only took action 65 times. or 11 percent of the time they were requested to do so. Water sprays on a mining machine were not properly maintained and failed to extinguish sparks. which allowed a fire to ignite. Coal dust provided the fuel that allowed a localized fire to trigger a massive explosion that ripped through miles of underground tunnels where miners were working. Finally. the report found intimidation. Miners were afraid to speak out about their safety concerns. They dared not stop coal production. Anyone who challenged management was considered a nuisance or a threat and their jobs were on the line. These conclusions are chilling. This report makes it clear that the failure to effectively deal with a reckless operator occurred at many levels: Our Nations health and safety protections failed these 29 miners because of the many loopholes in the law that were exploited by the mine industry. Regulators allowed the mine to operate in a badly engineered ventilation system and failed to force operators to use modern technology to prevent coal dust explosions. And the mining industry failed these workers because they repeatedly refused to speak out against some of the worst actors within their industry. and have opposed legislation to curtail their misconduct. The State investigation is also a call to action. The panel urges Congress to enact reforms to modernize mine safety technology. give regulators better tools. strengthen criminal provisions. and improve the rights of miners. Mr. Speaker. with this report and its recommendations. Congress has been warned. We cannot abide by the status quo any longer. We cannot let Washingtons paytoplay politics paralyze legislative action once again. Congress has been warned. We cannot let mine operators game mine safety enforcement by paying lawyers instead of fixing chronic safety problems. Congress has been warned. We cannot let miners live in fear of being fired for speaking out on behalf of their safety. Their voices save lives. Congress has been warned. We cannot let decisions made in the boardrooms to put production over safety go unchallenged any longer. There are responsible mining companies that operate without an avalanche of violations. There are operators who do not make deviant behavior a part of their corporate culture. We want these mine operators to join us to rework the rules that govern this industry. In the end. though. getting mine reform done depends upon Congress. The responsibility rests squarely here. These disasters are preventable. This report is a very clear warning. We should notwe must notwait for another tragedy before Congress owns up to its responsibility. 1l 1010