Coal group, feds at odds over emergency oxygen

Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette

A coal industry group has filed a lawsuit to force withdrawal of a federal advisory telling mine operators they should have four days of emergency oxygen on hand in case miners are trapped underground.

National Mining Association officials said they filed the petition for review in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on March 20.

The NMA had threatened legal action following a Feb. 8 "program information bulletin" from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, according to correspondence obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A March 7 letter from association Vice President Bruce Watzman to Richard E. Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, called the bulletin illegal and said it "presents significant technological feasibility problems."



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07100/776560-357.stm

---

No surprise here - just cheaper to let the workers die. :sarcasm: