A Tale of Two Mines

Seventy Canadian miners were rescued 24 hours after a fire broke out in their mine. They waited out the fire in sealed emergency rooms with at least 36 hours of oxygen and other supplies. In the US during January 2006, 14 died in mine accidents, primarily from the toxic fumes. Unlike their colleagues to the north, American miners had no refuge to wait out the time rescuers needed to reach them.

Now federal mine regulators are reviewing new emergency and safety rules, incuding requirements for refuge rooms that would extend survival times. BushCheney could have implemented this requirement six years ago but abandoned the effort. The reason:

"...The idea of special caches was formally abandoned by MSHA in September 2001. The agency's explanation: 'MSHA is withdrawing this entry from the agenda in the light of resource constraints and changing safety and health regulatory priorities.'..."

Bogus reasoning wrapped in weasel words, indeed, but it worked. Safety regulations were postponed. Fourteen more casualties in the Right Wing-Corporate assault on American government.