Miscellany

News of the Weird

Compiled by Chuck Shepherd

Fine the mine? Fine. A report on mine safety regulation by USA Today found that complicated federal statutes and un-vigorous Mine Safety and Health Administration enforcement have resulted in civil fines almost guaranteed not to deter dangerous conditions.

The largest-ever MSHA fine (for a 2001 incident with 13 deaths) was $605,400; as compared to, for example, the FCCs 2004 fine of CBS for the brief image of Janet Jacksons breast at the Super Bowl, which was $3.5 million. One attorney who represents coal companies said, I really dont think any responsible mine operator makes any decision about safety based on civil penalties.

NO EXCUSES! You Can Vote Early!

Early voting lasts from April 19 until May 6. Election Day is Tuesday, May 9. To vote early, go to the County Clerks office in your County Courthouse during regular business hours.

Why vote, you may ask? Last election, of registered voters only 24.2 percent voted in Mingo County, 29.7 percent voted in Logan County, and 33 percent voted in Boone County. Most other West Virginia counties had similarly abysmal voter turnout rates.

Imagine if every person who is worried about coal sludge impoundments, mountaintop removal and Big Coals attempts to buy politicians turned out to vote! We could recapture our democracy.

So be sure you are registered and vote!

Gold Mine Takes Advantage of New Rule

Reuters News Service, March 30, 2006 - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday reinstated a permit needed for the construction of a gold mine north of Juneau, Alaska, but environmentalists plan to fight the decision to allow (fish-killing) waste to flow into a natural alpine lake

The Kensington project is the first metal mine to take advantage of a federal rule loosening restrictions on mountaintop coal extraction.

The rule now classifies discharged milled ore waste known as tailings as benign fill and not a pollutant that requires treatment.

(An) attorney said the permit violates the basic principles of the Clean Water Act of 1972, because it allows the company to dump 210,000 gallons of tailings daily into the lake.