U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

January 12, 2006

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600


 Sen. Salazar and Colleagues Call for Oversight Hearings on Mine Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With mine safety and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in the news spotlight in recent weeks, a bipartisan group of Senators including United States Senator Ken Salazar and Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) are seeking mine safety oversight hearings before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The oversight hearing request comes in the wake of the tragic deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine in Upshur County, West Virginia.

“Coal is a multi-billion dollar industry and employs thousands of people across the Nation including the state of Colorado,” said Senator Salazar. “The safety of the men and women who toil everyday to provide our Nation’s energy deserve the best in safety standards and precautions – that is why this bi-partisan group of Senators is seeking safety oversight hearings.”

In a January 10 letter to HELP Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Ranking Member Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the bipartisan group of Senators noted that since 2001, Congress has not conducted a single comprehensive oversight hearing on mine safety. In their letter, the Senators request “a thorough congressional review of miner training procedures, industry safety practices, new proposals and developing technologies to improve miner safety, as well as consideration of current and future federal regulatory oversight.”

“More than half of America’s electricity comes from coal,” said Senator Salazar. “But every effort should be made to ensure that it does not come at the cost of a single life. By shedding needed light on the Mine Safety and Health Administration, we can better protect these miners and their families.”

A PDF copy of the letter sent by Senator Salazar and others to Chairman Enzi and Ranking Member Kennedy is available by clicking here.

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