A6
Politics & The Nation
EZ SU
KLMNO
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2010
Recent U.S. mine deaths Nine deaths have occurred at eight U.S. coal mines since the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. All the mines had been cited for major safety violations before the deaths.
April 22 Beckley Pocahontas mine, Raleigh County, W.Va.
John King, 28, was crushed against a wall by a boom attached to a mining machine.
Federal investigators said the mine had no effective policy to help miners identify the hazards of standing near machinery.
April 28 Dotiki mine, Hopkins County, Ky.
Michael Carter, 28, and Justin Travis, 27, were killed by rock when a roof collapsed.
Kentucky’s largest underground mine received the seventh most “significant and substantial” safety citations of any U.S. coal mine since January 2009. One was for failure to report a roof fall.
Michael Carter May 5 Ruby Energy mine, Mingo County, W.Va.
James Robie Erwin, 55, was crushed against a wall by a shuttle car as it rounded a corner.
Tis mine ranks 11th on the list of U.S. coal mines with the most significant and substantial safety violations since January 2009.
June 16 Clover Fork No. 1 mine, Harlan County, Ky. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL S. WILLIAMSON/THE WASHINGTON POST Workmen do maintenance on large water pumps at theUpper Big Branch mine inMontcoal,W.Va., where 29 miners were killed in April. Despite reform, mine deaths still occurring safety from A1
insideWestVirginia’sRubyEner- gymine. “He just toldme hewas in a lot
of pain, and he said, ‘I love you, Sheila. Pray,’ ” said Sheila Erwin, his wife, whomet the ambulance carrying her husband to a medi- cal helicopter. “I said, ‘I love you, too, Robie. And I ampraying.’ ” He died at a hospital 11 days
later. “I never, ever heard him speak again,” Sheila Erwin said. Statistically, the government
counts their deaths togetherwith those of four men who died in accidents on the surface — driv- ing trucks or operating machin- ery nearmine entrances. That total, 13 fatal accidents in
sixmonths,means that the death rate since the Upper Big Branch disaster has been about the same as it has over the past 15 years. Coal mining remains a danger- ous profession, although far few- er people die today than before 1969, when Congress passed broad reforms: In 1968, about 26 miners died every month. In all, more than 104,000 have died in accidents since 1900. Before the blast, theUpper Big
Branch mine had been repeated- ly cited for safety problems and investigators recently reported finding high levels of explosive dust inside. Massey Energy, a Richmond-
based coal giant that owns the mine, said the evidence was not reliable: Federal regulators’ “nar- row-minded focus on compro- mised coal dust evidence is doing a disservice” to theminers’ fami- lies, the company said in a state- ment. After the Upper Big Branch
explosion, federal regulators in- creased by 20 percent their use of orders that require mines to close temporarily, shutting off valuable coal production. They also beganwhat they call
impact inspections to increase their presence in 89 of the coun- try’s roughly 2,000 coalmines.At these sites, chosen because of their record of poor safety or health issues, inspectors some- times arrive in unmarked cars. They at times have seized phone systems upon arrival to prevent officials from warning miners underground. “There are a number of mine
operators who think they’ve got us figured out. So we are chang- ing the dynamics here,” said Jo- seph A. Main, a longtime safety expert at the United MineWork- ers of America union, whom President Obama appointed to head theMine Safety and Health Administration in 2009.
Jimmy R. Carmack, 42, was struck and killed by a roof support that had been knocked over by a chunk of falling coal.
Tis mine, owned by St. Louis-based Arch Coal, was cited for safety violations 53 times in the two months aſter the Upper Big Branch explosion, including 29 times for significant and substantial problems.
Robie Erwin June 24 Leeco No. 68 mine, Perry County, Ky.
Bobby L. Smith, 29, was crushed against a wall while kneeling next to a mining machine that he was operating by remote control. State investigators said he had “concentrations of substances” in his blood and urine.
Te state cited the mining company for not ensuring that miners complied with safety rules.
July 1 White Buck Coal Co. Pocahontas mine, Greenbrier County, W.Va. Wilbert “Ray” Starcher, 60, was run over by a shuttle car.
Federal and state investigation results are pending, but the mine, owned by a subsidiary of Massey Energy, had been the target of unusually harsh criticism this year from federal safety inspectors.
July 9 Willow Lake Portal mine, Saline County, Ill.
Tomas N. Brown, 61, was run over by a shuttle car while standing next to another one that had broken down.
Tis mine has the fiſth-most significant and substantial safety violations of any U.S. coal mine since the beginning of 2009.
July 29 Loveridge mine, Marion County, W.Va.
Jessie Adkins was laid to rest at the Old Brick Church Cemetery nearHuttonsville,W.Va. Main said the deaths since the
“Violations for roof and rib
Upper Big Branch disaster dem- onstrate that some mining com- panies are still not addressing safety problems, but rather wait- ing for federal inspectors to no- tice them. “There is a problem in the
mining industry. They want MSHA to fire-boss their mines,” he said. A “fire boss,” in mining parlance, is someone who in- spects themine for safety risks. He said the government crack-
down wasmeant to demonstrate that this was no longer a tenable strategy: “At some point, that probably made financial sense, butwe are changing that. Iwould say it nevermademoral sense.”
No safety guarantee Most of the nine deaths are
still under federal investigation. It’s not clear that federal over- sight could have prevented all — or any — of them. In two cases, the miners were controlling the machines that accidentally crushed them. “I wish I could say to you with
certainty that you’re going to prevent [all mine deaths] in the future.History has shown us that that’s unfortunately not always the case,” said BruceWatzman, a senior vice president at the Na- tional Mining Association, a trade group. “I don’t think that a fatality at amine reflects a failing on the part of the agency.” The Loveridge mine, in which
Adkins was killed, was owned by Consol Energy. Chief Operating Officer Nicholas Deluliis said the citations were not proof that the mine had a problemwith its roof and walls before the accident.
controls are arbitrary” and based on inspectors’ judgments, he said, referring to the tunnel’s ceiling and walls. “I disagree with the view that there is a systemic problem with the roof or procedures for controlling the roof and ribs at the Loveridge coalmine.” Several cases illuminate the
government’s trouble with end- ing unsafe conditions, even after repeated citations. In eastern Kentucky, federal
inspectors wrote up the Clover Fork No. 1 mine 29 times for “significant and substantial” problems. Eight were for roof and wall problems. “This stan- dard was cited 42 times in two years at this mine,” an inspector wrote after aninspectiononJune 2.
Two weeks after that, rocks
crumbled off a wall. Jimmy R. Carmack, a section foreman at the mine, responded. Then a chunk of wall fell behind him. It knocked over a large piece of metal, which struck Carmack in the head. Kim Link, spokeswoman for
St. Louis-based Arch Coal, whose subsidiary owns the Clover Fork mine, said that the circumstanc- es of the case were “highly un- usual,” and that the operation's safety history is better than the national average. In another case, the Willow
Lake Portal mine in Illinois was on the government’s target list for “impact inspections” after the Upper Big Branch blast. During the threemonths after the explo- sion, inspectors wrote 35 cita- tions for “significant and sub-
Jessie Adkins, 39, died when a 16-foot-long chunk of rock wall fell on him as he was trying to shore up a section of roof.
stantial” violations there. Then, on July 9,miner Thomas
N. Brownwas killedwhen hewas hit by a vehicle there. “I knew that the federal man
would be all over the coalmines, checking,” after the Upper Big Branch disaster, said Brown’s wife, Joyce Brown, 59. Now, she said, “I wish they could have donemore.” A spokeswoman for that
mine’s parent company, Peabody Energy, said that the circum- stances of Brown’s death are still under investigation and that the mine hasmade “aggressive oper- ational changes” to improve safe- ty since then. Trying to explainwhy repeated
federal citations didn’t prevent fatalities, safety experts pointed to the same problems that sur- faced after the Upper Big Branch blast. The backlog of appeals cases has grown—clogged by the new citations — meaning that companies can delay payments for years. At Consol, for instance, the
company has contested 31 per- cent of the safety citations issued to itsmines since January. That’s more than 1,000 citations, with fines totaling $2.6 million,which won’t be paid until the cases are resolved. In addition, federal regulators
still have trouble using their power to temporarily shut down mines that have a “pattern of violations.” That provision in the lawhas not been used successful- ly in 32 years. Lastweek, theMine Safety and
Health Administration an- nounced new criteria that could simplify that process. Bills intro-
Tomas N. Brown
Te mine was cited three days before Adkins’s death for not properly shoring up the roof and walls. Te inspector said it was the 87th such violation at the mine in two years.
SOURCE: Staff reports
duced in Congress would expand whistle-blower protections for miners, give theMSHAsubpoena power and provide federal regu- lators with more authority to close unsafe mines. Legislation has stalled on the Senate side. “Anytime there’s a failure to
connect the violation to the pen- alty . . . the enforcement effort doesn’t have the curative effect that you need to have,” said J. Davitt McAteer, who headed the federal mine-safety administra- tion under President Bill Clinton. Mining companies don’tworry
about repeat violations, he said, because the consequences seem so far off. It’s unlike parking tickets, he said: “You know the boot’s coming. So it encourages you to pay.” Union officials and safety ex-
perts say the government also has been slow to push mining companies to adopt new safety technology. One device, for in- stance, chirps when vehicles get too close tominers.
All that remains As reformefforts grind slowly,
Upper Big Branch—once viewed as the explosion that would change everything — is looking more like past coal-mine catas- trophes. In 2006, 12 men died in an explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia. Reforms followed, but so did
another disaster. “I don’t want to hear another
THE WASHINGTON POST
politician say theywillmake sure it never happens again. ” said Deborah Hamner, whose hus- band, George, died at Sago. “It’s time forminers to fight for safety. Washington isn’t going to do it.” For the families of the nine
menwho have died in the past six months, what remains are pic- tures of them posing with coal- blackened faces, old baseball caps and walls covered with fish- ing trophies. Along a winding valley road in
Delbarton, W.Va., Robie Erwin’s house is full of gifts from his mourners: decorated blankets and framed quotes from the Bi- ble. Erwin’s death is still under
state and federal investigation. Massey Energy, themine’s parent company, said there is no indica- tion it was at fault. “Mr. Erwin positioned himself,
perhaps unknowingly, in a pinch point between the coal rib and a shuttle car,” it said ina statement. In life, Erwin had been a
volunteer coach, a sports referee and a church choir director. His service was so crowded that even the circuit court judge had to stand in the back. The crowds explain the unusu-
al gifts: Local floristswere selling themout of desperation. Erwin had somanymourners,
his family said, that the town ran out of flowers.
fahrenthold@washpost.com kindyk@washpost.com
Officials to hear concerns about health-care lawfromproviders, insurers BY JENNY GOLD
AND PHIL GALEWITZ KAISER HEALTH NEWS
Doctors and hospitals eager to
pursue a new model of health care being promoted by the Obama administration are rais- ing concerns that they could run afoul of antitrust and anti-fraud laws, and insurers are warning that the newarrangements could lead to higher prices for medical care. The differences will be hashed
out Tuesday, when hundreds of health-care representatives are to attend a meeting with federal officials in Baltimore. The ses- sion is being conducted by the Federal Trade Commission, the Centers forMedicare andMedic-
aid Services and the Office of the Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Depart- ment. A key part of the health over-
haul lawencourages the develop- ment of accountable care organi- zations (ACOs) which would al- low doctors to team up with one another and with hospitals in new ways to provide medical services. Health-care providers want to make sure that their ACOswon’t be accused of stifling competitionor trying to fixprices when they bargain with insur- ance companies. Insurers,mean- while, are expressing concern that providers could use the le- verage of the organizations to demand higher prices. Whether ACOs, which are just a concept, can be made to work
might determine whether the health-care law succeeds in low- ering costs and improving care for consumers. As envisioned by the law, the organizations would be paid to cover costs for Medi- care beneficiaries in a given area and get financial rewards if they meet quality and cost-saving tar- gets. The federal health programfor
the elderly and disabled is to start trying out ACOs in 2012, and some providers are scram- bling to figure out how to apply the idea to privately insured pa- tients as well. The antitrust rules mostly concern the private insur- ance market; in Medicare, the government sets the payment rates. Today,most hospitals and doc- tors work independently of one
another, which experts say tends to drive up costs and hurt quality. “ACOs could transform the
way care is delivered and fi- nanced, and we want the govern- ment agencies to take a freshlook at how antitrust and antifraud laws apply,” said Chet Speed, vice president of policy at the Ameri- can Medical Group Association, which represents large physician groups. “This open dialogue could be the first step to over- coming these legal obstacles.” The new ACOs could mimic,
for example, the tightly integrat- ed Mayo Clinic, though other variations will probably be tried. In the lead-up to the meeting,
the hospitals and doctor groups asked regulators for clear, “user- friendly” guidance to make sure they do not violate federal laws in
forming ACOs. Speed said his members do not want to spend $1million to form an ACO with- out knowing whether it will be demed legal. But America’s Health Insur-
ance Plans, the insurers’ trade group, warned government offi- cials against being too accommo- dating. It said in a recent letter that ACOs will not help consum- ers “if they are mere vehicles for price fixing.” Cory Capps, an economist at
Bates White Economic Consult- ing, said that “we could end up in the worst world,” in which the delivery of care is notmademore efficient but providers accumu- late “greater pricing power.” A few health-care systems
around the country are already embracing the notion of ACOs
and are developing themfor their private insurance business. In February, two competing
hospitals in Omaha, the Nebras- kaMedical Center andMethodist Health System, announced they wouldformtheAccountableCare Alliance to reduce duplication of services, limit unnecessary tests and increase communication be- tween doctors and hospitals.Rita Potter, who is on the board of the alliance, says officials realize there’s a risk in going ahead so soon, but concluded that “we just couldn’t wait.”
Kaiser is an editorially independent news service and a programof the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-care policy organization that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Justin Travis
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62