2 more West Virginia miner deaths

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

WV Governor Manchin just suspended all mining in the state. Clearly the regulations need to be improved.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/1/185952/8179

[Gabu]

Given what Manchin said:

"We're going to check for unsafe conditions, and we're going to correct any unsafe conditions before we mine another lump of coal."

...is this due to a lack of regulations, or due to a lack of following regulations?

[Alcon]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Given what Manchin said:

"We're going to check for unsafe conditions, and we're going to correct any unsafe conditions before we mine another lump of coal."

...is this due to a lack of regulations, or due to a lack of following regulations?

If the regulations don't have any teeth to them, then clearly the regulations must get a tougher penalty.

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

Some of this may have to do with the weakening of OSHA and MSHA by the Bush adminstration and the Republican Congress.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

No, not really. It is atypical that they've been reporting them much (I suppose because there are fatalities for once).

---

And to answer the obvious question; yes Manchin is right to do this. It's important to check how effective the regulations currently in place are, whether any new ones are needed and if existing ones are being flouted, what can be done about it.
A sensible and pragmatic thing to do IMO; don't decide what to do about a problem 'til you know what the problem actually is.

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Note to jfern: please quite trying to politicise mining accidents, alright? And don't jump to conclusions as to what the problem is and who or what is to blame.

Thank you.

[Alcon]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

Some of this may have to do with the weakening of OSHA and MSHA by the Bush adminstration and the Republican Congress.

That doesn't answer my question, and I doubt that the weakening was recent enough that this could be considered a sudden outbreak of mining accidents.

I get the impression the media may just be giving them more attention than usual.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

Some of this may have to do with the weakening of OSHA and MSHA by the Bush adminstration and the Republican Congress.

That doesn't answer my question, and I doubt that the weakening was recent enough that this could be considered a sudden outbreak of mining accidents.

I get the impression the media may just be giving them more attention than usual.

You can't prove that the change in regulation caused these, but it does seem like a likely reason.

Anyways, of course it makes more news if lives are at stake, or someone dies.

[Alcon]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

Some of this may have to do with the weakening of OSHA and MSHA by the Bush adminstration and the Republican Congress.

That doesn't answer my question, and I doubt that the weakening was recent enough that this could be considered a sudden outbreak of mining accidents.

I get the impression the media may just be giving them more attention than usual.

You can't prove that the change in regulation caused these, but it does seem like a likely reason.

Anyways, of course it makes more news if lives are at stake, or someone dies.

Well, since you're passionate about this, I assume you've seen statistics about average number of mining deaths in the state.  Have they increased substantially?  Can we see this information?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

Some of this may have to do with the weakening of OSHA and MSHA by the Bush adminstration and the Republican Congress.

That doesn't answer my question, and I doubt that the weakening was recent enough that this could be considered a sudden outbreak of mining accidents.

I get the impression the media may just be giving them more attention than usual.

You can't prove that the change in regulation caused these, but it does seem like a likely reason.

Anyways, of course it makes more news if lives are at stake, or someone dies.

Well, since you're passionate about this, I assume you've seen statistics about average number of mining deaths in the state.  Have they increased substantially?  Can we see this information?

While the very long term trend has been decreasing deaths, recently we have.

2006: now 16
2005: 3
2004: 12
2003: 8
2002: 6
2001: 14
2000: 9
1999: 9
1998: 6
1997: 6

http://www.wvminesafety.org/fatal97.htm

[Jake]

There have been a surprising number of mining accidents recently covered by the media.  Is this atypical somehow?

It's media mongering again.