MSHA orders withdrawals at Leslie County mine 

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued 10 withdrawal orders at Abner Branch Rider Mine in Leslie County related to mine safety violations. Here’s an excerpt from the MSHA press release: 

ARLINGTON, Va. -The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that it has issued 10 withdrawal orders at Bledsoe Coal Corp.'s Abner Branch Rider Mine, just one month after the Leslie County, Ky., operation received a notice of a pattern of violations. These orders mark an unprecedented use by the agency of an enforcement action under Section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

Under Section 104(e) of the Mine Act, a mining operation on a POV is subject to a withdrawal order each time MSHA issues a significant and substantial, known as an S&S, violation. The order remains in place until the violation is abated. An operator can be removed from POV status only after undergoing a complete inspection without receiving an S&S violation. 

To read the full release, click here.

Report describes Upper Big Branch culture

In other mine safety news, an independent team of investigators released a report on the Upper Big Branch mine disaster of 2010. The report blames a corporate “culture in which wrongdoing became acceptable, where deviation became the norm” for the deaths of 29 Massey Energy mine workers. 

To read more, click here.