Congress to probe safety issues raised by mine disaster

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/4070404/Congress+to+probe+safety+issues+raised+by+mine+disaster

By James R. Carroll • jcarroll@courier-journal.com • April 7, 2010

WASHINGTON — The nation’s worst mine disaster in decades has already prompted Congress to plan hearings on what went wrong and whether stronger safety measures are needed.

Though no date has been set, the hearings will be held by the House Education and Labor Committee, whose chairman, California Democrat George Miller, has helped push through several mine-safety initiatives.

Even before that inquiry gets under way, lawmakers are suggesting that federal mine-safety regulations need another look.

“I will demand answers,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said in a statement. “We will leave no stone unturned in determining how this happened and in taking action for the future.”

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has named a special team of investigators to examine Monday’s blast at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, in which 25 miners were killed and four others are missing.

The team will be led by Norman Page, a 25-year MSHA veteran who manages the agency’s district office in Pikeville, Ky.

FULL story at link.