Obama orders safety review of mines

President Obama ordered top federal officials to launch a full-scale safety review of coal mines around the nation on Thursday and asked Congress to close legal loopholes that let companies “put their bottom line before the safety of their workers.”

After summoning safety and labor officials to the Oval Office to answer for the recent explosion that killed 29 miners in West Virginia, Obama ordered them to examine lapses by mine companies’ management -- as well as in federal regulators’ procedures.

In unusually blunt criticism of the coal companies, Obama said the disaster at Montcoal, W.Va., was “first and foremost” one of management. Also to blame, he said, are actions of government regulators and laws “so riddled with loopholes that they allow unsafe conditions to continue.”

Shortly after the president spoke, Massey Energy, owner of the Upper Big Branch Mine where last week’s disaster occurred, released a statement calling Obama’s remarks “regrettable,” asserting that he is misinformed about the company’s record and about the mining industry in general.

As he offered his prayers for the survivors of the Montcoal mining accident, Obama said that’s not all they deserve.

“We owe them action,” he said, speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden after the morning meeting. “We owe them accountability. . . . They ought to know that behind them there is a company that’s doing what it takes to protect them, and a government that is looking out for their safety.”

The president’s directive comes as West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III asked all underground coal mines in his state to stop work for a full day on Friday to allow state inspectors and workers time to review safety conditions.

In 2009, under the Obama administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration presented individual Massey mines with three Sentinels of Safety awards, which the company says is the highest number of those awards given a single company in one year. But the Upper Big Branch Mine was cited for 515 violations in 2009 and 124 so far this year, federal statistics show.

As for the backlog of violations under appeal by the company, the Massey statement said they were not out of line with the industry average.

Though Obama spoke about the culpability of mine owners, he said he didn’t want to pin the blame entirely on them. Federal agencies charged with ensuring worker safety have to look at their own procedures too, he said.

After his meeting with Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis and MSHA chief Joe Main, the president ordered a review of mines across the country. He specifically raised the possibility that the Department of Justice may have a role in correcting the problem of unchecked safety violations.

“This isn’t just about a single mine; it’s about all of our mines,” Obama said. “The safety record at the Massey Upper Big Branch mine was troubling. And it’s clear that while there are many responsible companies, far too many mines aren’t doing enough to protect their workers’ safety.”

cparsons@tribune.com