The American Coal Company Sues Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for Unlawful Regulation

The American Coal Company (American Coal) filed suit against the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for numerous violations of federal law and MSHA’s own regulations in inspections at the company’s Galatia Mining Complex, a complex of three separate mines in Saline County, Illinois. The suit, filed in the Southern District Court of Illinois, follows a series of complaints by the... 

Tag: american coal new future, the american coal company, il mine safety violations, mine safty and health vincennes, american coal new era mine

Stragglers, stories all that’s left of coal town

BONNY BLUE This once-booming coal camp is testament to what can happen when bustle goes bust. Some Richmonders may have been surprised last week when a University of Virginia study disclosed the capital city’s population has shrunk 2.9 percent since 2000. For the few stragglers in Bonny Blue, that’s a statistical hiccup. To see what population decline really means, you have to come to the... 

Tag: bonny blue va, bonny blue coal camp virginia, catron hollow lee county, bonny blue coal

State mine inspector indicted on fraud, theft charges

A state grand jury returned a 9-count felony indictment today against Arizona Mine Inspector Doug Martin, accusing the state’s longest-serving elected official of thousands of dollars in fraud, theft and violations of state purchasing procedures. Martin is the third top elected official to face criminal charges in Arizona this year. Last week, former state Treasurer David Petersen was sentenced... 

Backdoor Mine-Safety Appointment Miffs Critics: Cindy Skrzycki

The Senate sent Richard Stickler’s nomination to become the top U.S. mine-safety official back to the White House — twice. Widows and relatives of dead miners had pleaded that he not be given the job. Stickler lacked the support of lawmakers from key mining states. Some newspaper editorials had criticized him as an industry insider. None of this fazed the White House. When Congress departed... 

Tag: positive things from mining to government

EPA Relaxing Environmental Rules for Ethanol Plants

As President Bush promotes ethanol as a green alternative to gasoline, his administration is quietly relaxing environmental rules for dozens of new corn-to-fuel refineries sprouting up across the nation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is planning to change the way ethanol plants are treated under the Clean Air Act, a move critics say could make it easier for the burgeoning industry to evade... 

A harbor fixture for years, the huge drilling rig began to leak oil recently

For 14 years the old, mobile offshore-drilling unit Zeus has sat rusting on the edge of the Freeport harbor channel, looming as a threat that could someday ooze oily goo into sensitive estuaries or, worse, topple over and close one of the busiest waterways in Texas. “If that thing fell over it could shut down this port for months,” state Rep. Dennis Bonnen said Wednesday as he stood in... 

Mine safety agency comes under scrutiny

Two federal agencies have begun separate investigations of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and its performance protecting underground coal miners, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned. The audits are being conducted by the inspector general’s office in the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees MSHA, and the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress. The inspector...