W.Va. suspends miner for fake credentials
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)
A West Virginia coal miner was suspended for a year and barred from working as a supervisor for three more after a state panel determined Wednesday that he used phony credentials to work as an underground mine foreman in charge of conducting safety examinations.
The Coal Mine Safety Board of Appeals also suspended Ronnie Britton II’s surface and underground miner certificates, all of which require training and testing, as well as his apprentice certificates. A third certificate based solely on experience and a $10 fee was revoked permanently.
The decision essentially keeps Britton from working in the coal industry for at least a year. The state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training had requested a lifetime ban saying an uncertified foreman endangers miners.
“I know that historically this board has been reluctant to permanently decertify someone from all of his or her cards and to order a permanent ban on working in the mines in this state. I’ve heard the argument of not wanting to take away a man’s livelihood,” agency lawyer Elaine Skorich told the board. “The agency is not asking this board to take away Mr. Britton’s livelihood — just one way of him earning a living.”
The three-member board gave no explanation for its decision.
Mine foremen conduct safety examinations to check for hazards such as explosive levels of methane gas or excessive coal dust, another potential fuel for deadly blasts. The state says Britton conducted thousands of safety exams during the 17 years he claims to have held a foreman’s card.
The state’s investigation started when Britton’s most recent employer, Coal River Energy, called to verify his credentials in December. Britton claimed he’d passed the state exam and become a certified underground foreman in 1993. He worked in that capacity at several mines until December 2010.
During Wednesday’s hearing, several mine office witnesses testified that the photocopy of a certificate Britton provided to employers over the years could not have been issued by the state. They said it contained errors including an incorrect title of the position.
Britton’s lawyer, Gregory Campbell, argued the state failed to prove that Britton had falsified his qualifications. Campbell asked that Britton be required to obtain a correct certificate.
“How could he go through all these years assuming that it was not valid? How could he go through all those years?” Campbell said.
“My bottom line is that this man ought to be back in the mines,” he said. “He runs a clean shift. He runs a good shift. The industry needs him.”
Britton is the latest of several miners disciplined by the state for using fake credentials to work as a foreman. Several also have faced federal criminal charges for signing official safety records while using the fake credentials.
