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2000-2012 On Thursday, August 16, 2007, a significant bounce killed three rescue workers, including one MSHA inspector, trying to locate six miners at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. The six miners were unaccounted for after the mine suffered a large cave-in on the morning of August 6. The owner settles with the survivors for an undisclosed amount. The media reports it is the largest settlement in Utah's mining history, which would be greater than the $22 million settlement paid for the Willberg mine fire that killed 27 miners in 1984. MSHA begins to more closely monitor compliance records and begins to issue warnings for potential patterns of viola- tions during June 2007—a law that had been rarely used up until now. Of the seven mines that received the letters, five showed a dramatic reduction in S&S; violations by the begin- ning of 2008. *Coal Age, June 2006 On January 2, 2006, an explosion at ICG's Sago mine in West Virginia kills 12 miners. Shortly after that tragic event, two more incidents in West Virginia take the lives of four more miners. West Virginia begins to pass mine safety laws in a knee-jerk reaction. Coal Age reports that Dye bungles a Senate mine safety hearing, which only motivates Senators to take similar actions on a federal level. President Bush nominates Richard Stickler as the new head of MSHA, but the Senate does not confirm him. Another explosion occurs at the Darby No. 1 mine killing five more miners on May 20. Two more fatalities brought the year- to-date total to 33 by the end of May. On June 15, 2006, President Bush signed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act into law. It represents the first revisions to the federal mine safety laws since the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act became law in 1977. The provisions include: • Requiring each underground coal mine to develop and con- tinuously update a written emergency response plan; • Requiring each underground coal mine to make available two experienced rescue teams capable of a one-hour response time; • Requiring wireless two-way communications and electronic tracking in three years; • Giving MSHA the authority to request an injunction to shut down a mine in cases where a mine operator has refused to pay a penalty; • Raising the criminal penalty cap to $250,000 for first offenses and $500,000 for second offenses, as well as establishing a maximum civil penalty of $220,000 for flagrant violations; • Creating a scholarship program to mitigate an anticipated shortage of trained and experienced miners and MSHA inspectors; and • Establishing the Brookwood-Sago mine safety grants pro- gram to provide training grants to better identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around mines. President Bush uses a Senate recess to appoint Stickler to head MSHA during October 2006. He was previously director for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety. Stickler has more than 37 years of mining experience, including the man- agement of underground and surface mining operations. Stickler will be responsible for administering the MINER Act of 2006. August 2012 During the two years since the MINER Act has been enacted, MSHA has published four final rules (mine seals, rescue teams, civil penalties and emergency evacuation) and during June 2008 it proposed two more (refuge alternatives and belt air). Despite a backlog of more than 9,000 cases before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Commission, Stickler advocates a more aggressive approach on enforcement. The coal operators begin to push back and contest every violation that MSHA cites tying up the courts. President Obama appoints Joseph A. Main, assistant secre- tary for Mine Safety and Health. Main worked as an advocate for miner safety under the UMWA for 22 years. Main soon finds himself in front of Congress explaining a backlog of contested citations. At the time, there are 16,000 cases before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Commission with at least $195 million in outstanding fines. In 2006, the backlog was 2,100 cases. On April 9, 2010, Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine suffers an explosion, which kills 29 miners. It would become the worst mining disaster since the 1970 Finley Coal Explosion that killed 38 miners in Kentucky. More than 2,000 people, including President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, gathered in Beckley, W.Va., to mourn the tragedy. In the wake of the worst mining tragedy in 40 years, both Massey Energy and MSHA prepare to defend their actions or the lack thereof. Correctly determining who or what was at fault and the chain of events that led to the explosion will have long-term President Obama and Vice President Biden watch West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin escort a widow as she places a hard hat on a cross. *Coal Age, May 2010 100th Anniversary Special Issue www.coalage.com 177