W.Va. seeks to add more mine safety inspectors
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s top mine safety official is seeking nearly $1 million to hire a dozen more underground mine inspectors.
Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin included $984,240 for new inspectors in his proposed state budget. A spokeswoman says the state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training requested the additional funds.
The increase would boost the inspector ranks to nearly 100, starting with the budget year that begins July 1. The request comes as the state continues to grapple with safety questions following the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 miners in April.
West Virginia, the nation’s No. 2 coal producer, has faced chronic shortages of inspectors.
Supporters of the funding request include Sen. Mike Green, a member of that chamber’s Finance Committee and chairman of its Energy, Industry and Mining Committee.
“I think it’s very appropriate, in light of what happened at Upper Big Branch in my home county,” said Green, D-Raleigh. “I’m a very big proponent of that. It’s paramount that we do all we can to make sure that the people who go underground every day, that they return home every night to their families.”
Currently, the agency has 84 inspectors for surface and underground mines and specialties such as electrical equipment, director C.A. Phillips said.
But Phillips is preparing to send pairs of inspectors to problem mines with poor safety records or potentially dangerous conditions such as crumbling roofs. The agency hasn’t decided which mines will be targeted yet.
“We’re going to let our inspectors at large tell us,” Phillips said.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration credits a similar crackdown for a declining number of serious violations at mines nationally between the Upper Big Branch blast and November, when the last numbers came out.
The state barely met its statutory obligation to inspect each of approximately 200 underground mines four times last year, Philips said. The agency relied on inspectors working overtime and on days off to meet its duty, he said. Upper Big Branch was a significant drain.
“It cost us a tremendous amount of overtime,” Phillips said.
The House of Delegates will take the lead on passing a new state budget during the 60-day session, which began Wednesday. House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White senses no objections from coal companies, labor or other stakeholders to the proposed increase.
“I talk to a lot of individuals and obviously, safety is important,” the Mingo County Democrat said. “If we can keep that in there, we will try to keep it in there.”
