KFTC ACTION ALERT UPDATE: September 30, 2006

The nomination of John Correll was returned to President Bush without action by the U.S. Senate as it recessed for a fall break.  President Bush has the option of returning the nomination when the Senate reconvenes, making a recess appointment or dropping Correll and nominating someone else more qualified.

By the way, more than 80 people let us know they had called, e-mailed or faxed Senator Bunning's office in opposition to Correll's nomination (see below).

KFTC ACTION ALERT UPDATE: July 14, 2006

On July 5 we sent out an action alert asking you to contact Senator Jim Bunning’s office asking him to oppose the nomination of John Correll as director of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining. A number of you replied letting us know that you had called or emailed Bunning’s office.

A lobbyist for an ally organization in Washington recently had contact with Bunning’s office and was told that the senator “has not received any letters or emails opposing the nomination.” We know this is not true.  So we are asking you to do two things:

1)  If you contacted Bunning’s office in response to the previous action alert, please let us know that you did by sending an email to jhardt@kftc.org. We want to be able to tell Senator Bunning that “we know at least __ # of people have contacted you about this.”

2)  If you were not able to take action in response to the July 5 alert, please do so now. The hearing on Correll’s nomination has now been scheduled for July 20. Fax, email or call Bunning’s office with the message below — and then let us know that you have done this.

Many thanks!

KFTC ACTION ALERT

KFTC is asking you to contact U.S. Senator Jim Bunning and urge him to oppose the nomination of  John Correll as the director of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining.  Correll's nomination is being pushed by the National Mining Association.  Though Correll has no experience in mine reclamation and surface mining, he does has a long history in working to weaken underground mine safety regulations, some of which are directly related to the causes of recent mine tragedies.  See the background notes below if you want to learn more.

ACTION:  Contact the office of Senator Jim Bunning to oppose Correll's nomination. Bunning is on the committee that will review the nomination and decide whether to send a recommendation on to the full Senate. That action could come as early as Monday, July 10.

MESSAGE:  "John Correll's record and lack of experience make him a bad choice to head the U.S. Office of Surface Mining.  Please oppose his nomination to this post."

CONTACT:  Calling or faxing Sen. Bunning's Washington office is the preferred method of contact.        An email "web form" address is also provided:

BACKGROUND
1.  Correll was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor and responsible for the day-to-day management of the Mine Safety& Health Administration for five years. During his tenure the total number of federal mine health and safety inspectors was reduced by 217. This resulted in far fewer inspections in both coal mines and metal and non-metal mines nationwide. MSHA has not been able to meet the mandated number of inspections per year [4 for every underground mine and 2 for every surface mine]. The inspection program has collapsed. The result has been a record number of fatalities in the nation's mines during the first six months of 2006. Correll was such an inept administrator that he was essentially buried in the Dept. of Labor by David Dye, the current Acting Asst. Secretary for MSHA.

2.  Correll was instrumental in the shelving of 17 new mine health and safety rules that had been proposed by the previous administration. One of those rules would have improved requirements for flame resistance in materials used in mine conveyor belts. Had the rule been in effect, the February 2006 fire at the Aracoma Mine in Logan County, WV resulting in two fatalities would not have occurred.

3.  Correll supported a drastic rule change in 2004 that allowed intake air to be brought into underground mines through conveyor belt entries. This rule change greatly increased the probability that miners would be trapped in by mine fires in belt entries. That is exactly what happened at both the Sago Mine disaster and the Aracoma mine fire. The use of belt entries for intake air previously had been forbidden by MSHA rules since the early 1970s.

4.  Correll was the CEO for an organization called the International Mine Safety Professionals. One of his associates was Ben Shepherd. Ben Shepherd got an illegal sole source contract from MSHA to conduct training for MSHA supervisors. Shepherd charged the agency $1025/ student. He shared the profits with the International Mine Safety Professionals. The agency issued 180 individual contracts to avoid detection for violating federal procurement rules. The scam was publicly exposed. The Office of Inspector General investigated and concluded that the contracts were illegal. Correll continued as CEO for the International Society for months after coming to work for MSHA. This scam was also reported on "60 Minutes" on April 4, 2004.

5.  Correll participated in the cover-up regarding the Martin County Coal Slurry Spill [Massey Energy] of October 2000. This was the 300 million gallon coal slurry discharge that polluted 100 miles of streams in Eastern Kentucky and WV.  EPA called it the worst environmental disaster in the eastern U.S.  Correll was the overseer of the internal MSHA review that should have exposed MSHA's prior knowledge of the unsafe conditions at the coal waste impoundment. Instead, the report left MSHA blameless and was limited in scope by Correll and his boss Dave Lauriski. Correll also was a key player in the retaliation efforts by MSHA against the whistle-blower who exposed the cover-up. This was also detailed in the " 60 Minutes " program of April 4, 2004, as well as in the New York Times and other newspapers.