Enforcement of mine safety seen slipping under Bush (Deaths & injuries from accidents at record low)

Mercury News ^ | Jan. 06, 2005 | SETH BORENSTEIN, LINDA J. JOHNSON AND LEE MUELLER

[FairOpinion]

Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.

Relaxed mine safety enforcement is widespread, according to a Knight Ridder analysis of federal records and interviews with former and current federal safety officials, even though deaths and injuries from mining accidents have hovered near record low levels in the past few years.

David Gooch, president of Coal Operators and Associates in Pikeville, Ky., which has 200 members, said the size of the fines have nothing to do with who's in power in Washington. "It doesn't have anything to do with who's the president because, actually, the people who are doing those fines are apolitical," Gooch said. "They're employees that are covered by the federal civil service, and their own union, by the way, so they compute the fines the way they come out."

For coal mining, 2005 and 2002 were record low years for fatalities. Only 22 people were killed last year in coal mining deaths - down from 47 in 1995. The number of workers killed in all mines hit consecutive record lows of 56 and 55 in 2003 and 2004, respectively, but increased slightly to 57 in 2005.

"Within the last five years the number of fatalities have been cut in half," said National Mining Association spokeswoman Carol Raulston. "From our perspective that's where we ought to be focused. It is what is happening to the absolute number of injuries - and the rate of injuries - that has gone down. Mining is no longer the most dangerous industry in the United States."

[FairOpinion]

OUTRAGEROUS LYING MSM ALERT!!!

I am posting this in FrontPage News, because the truth needs to get out and most people only see the horribly misleading headline, and never find out the reality.

Why isn't the headline: "Under President Bush, mining fatalities have been cut in half" -- which is buried inside the article.

The MSM makes it very clear that they prefer big fines for mines, instead of REAL safety and reduction of accidents.

Also note that the people who enforce safety are not appointed by the president and administrations have nothing to do with them.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

Last night, in the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom. On the way there, I stubbed my toe. It was all bush's fault.

< /sarcasm >

[keat]

Last night, in the middle of the night, I woke up to go to the bathroom. On the way there, I stubbed my toe. It was all bush's fault.

Not too far off really. Bush's failure to protect our water supply allows more impurities in your drinking water, thus causing your kidneys and liver to work overtime and increasing midnight trips to the bathroom.

[claudiustg]

BUSH IS BAD

Yesterday I went to work on time. Today I didn't have to go to work because it's Saturday.

[headstamp]

The pressholes are truly the Liberal screamers they are made out to be.

What a joke. They can't even give credit where credit is due to the president.

They know most people are headline readers also. That's how much they think of their readers.

[martin_fierro]

Get a load of this typical dimwitted Murky News treatment.

[Frank_2001]

It doesn't MATTER that deaths and injuries from mining accidents have been hovering at near record low levels, these three MSM pinheads have concluded that whatever happens down there is STILL Bush's fault. Un-freaking-believable!

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

you forgot that he owns the state, he owns the church, he picks the winners of star search.

[gunnedah]

The real disaster is the lying liberal media and their political agenda.I have no more use for the MSM than roadkill and in my opinion that is what they are. It is absolutely amazing at how many lies,distortions and the amount of plagiarizing that has come out of the media in the last five years. It seems as though many of the so called professions in America are nothing but lying cheating jerks that feed off of hard working people and their should be a way to bring suit against them for the steady diet of lies they feed the unsuspecting public.

[kenth]

This is just ridiculous.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

They know that skiffy dimwit liberals don't read the articles, they just skim the headlines and hear the talking points on the Communist News Network.

[Willie Green]

Why isn't the headline: "Under President Bush, mining fatalities have been cut in half" -- which is buried inside the article.

Perhaps because Dubya hasn't actually done anything to improve mine safety.
Except, of course, to continue economic policies that shut down mines (such as outsourcing our steel industry).

[VRWCTexan]

Bump!!

[FairOpinion]

So you have no problem with the title "Enforcement of mine safety seen slipping under Bush" and slant of this article?

[xcamel]

Coal Fatalities for 1900 Through 2004

Total Number of Coal Mining Fatalities from 1900 through 2004: 104,552

Please Note:
Office workers included starting in 1973.

Year	Miners	Fatalities	Year	Miners	Fatalities	Year	Miners	Fatalities	Year	Miners	Fatalities
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929	448,581 485,544 518,197 566,260 593,693 626,045 640,780 680,492 690,438 666,552 725,030 728,348 722,662 747,644 763,185 734,008 720,971 757,317 762,426 776,569 784,621 823,253 844,807 862,536 779,613 748,805 759,033 759,177 682,831 654,494	1,489 1,574 1,724 1,926 1,995 2,232 2,138 3,242 2,445 2,642 2,821 2,656 2,419 2,785 2,454 2,269 2,226 2,696 2,580 2,323 2,272 1,995 1,984 2,462 2,402 2,518 2,234 2,231 2,176 2,187	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959	644,006 589,705 527,623 523,182 566,426 565,202 584,582 589,856 541,528 539,375 533,267 546,692 530,861 486,516 453,937 437,921 463,079 490,356 507,333 485,306 483,239 441,905 401,329 351,126 283,705 260,089 260,285 254,725 224,890 203,597	2,063 1,463 1,207 1,064 1,226 1,242 1,342 1,413 1,105 1,078 1,388 1,266 1,471 1,451 1,298 1,068 968 1,158 999 585 643 785 548 461 396 420 448 478 358 293	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989	189,679 167,568 161,286 157,126 150,761 148,734 145,244 139,312 134,467 133,302 144,480 142,108 162,207 151,892 182,274 224,412 221,255 237,506 255,588 260,429 253,007 249,738 241,454 200,199 208,160 197,049 185,167 172,780 166,278 164,929	325 294 289 284 242 259 233 222 311 203 260 181 156 132 133 155 141 139 106 144 133 153 122 70 125 68 89 63 53 68	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004	168,625 158,677 153,128 141,183 143,645 132,111 126,451 126,429 122,083 114,489 108,098 114,458 110,966 104,824 108,734	66 61 55 47 45 47 39 30 29 35 38 42 27 30 28

[jdm]

"deaths and injuries from mining accidents have hovered near record low levels in the past few years."

[ cue liberal talking points ]

VERY FEW PEOPLE STILL HAVE JOBS THANKS TO THE BUSH ECONOMY.

THEREFORE, LESS JOBS = LESS ACCIDENTS.

IT'S HARD TO GET HURT ON THE JOB, WHEN YOU HAVE NO JOB.

[ \ liberal talking points ]

[FairOpinion]

Thanks for the FACTS!!!

[traviskicks]

Great find! I would think the title of this story should be: 'Number of Government regulations, enforcements, requirements, and fines show no correlation to saftey records'

If this is the case, then there is no reason for their creation. Of course, this is only if we measure results and ignore intentions. :)





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[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed, a Knight Ridder Newspapers investigation has found.

..It's Bush's fault

[xcamel]

The MSHA site has all the records availible.