Public Health Practice NPR & Charleston Gazette ask court to reject call for “sealed record” in Massey-Alpha merger litigation
May 27, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

[June 3, 2011: Update below] [May 31, 2011: Update below] The West Virginia Supreme Court has taken up the case by Massey Energy shareholders to block the $8.5 Billon sale of the firm to Alpha Natural Resources. The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr., and National Public Radio’s (NPR) Howard Berkes have followed the day-to-day event […]

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OSHA White House again uses worker safety regulations as a whipping boy
May 26, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 11Comment

The White House’s regulatory czar Cass Sunstein announced today agency roadmaps for a 21-century regulatory system, and the results of the Obama Administration’s “unprecedented government-wide review” of existing regulations. I don’t know what history books Mr. Sunstein has been reading, but for at least the last 20 years, every Administration has engaged in these regulatory […]

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Cancer Does asbestos mean something different in Quebec than it does everywhere else?
May 13, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

That’s the question posed by Jon Stewart’s Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi in his “Ored to Death” segment broadcast on May 12. Mandvi interviews G. Bernard Coulombe, the general manager of the proposed Jeffrey asbestos mine in Quebec, Canada, who reports the mine will produce 200 TONS annually of chrysotile fibers. In the segment, Mandvi […]

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Environmental Health Anticipating Labor Dept’s regulatory agenda for new worker safety rules
May 5, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

It shouldn’t be long now before Labor Secretary Hilda Solis releases her semi-annual regulatory plan for new worker health and safety rules. This document is required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866, and is supposed to be published every April and October. The Labor Secretary’s most recent regulatory agenda wasn’t issued until […]

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Injury Control & Violence Safety blitz at WV Massey Energy mine, 20 instances of aggravated misconduct
May 4, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Adminstration (MSHA) issued a news release yesterday reporting on the results of an inspection at Inman Energy’s Randolph coal mine, a subsidiary of Massey Energy. MSHA chief Joe Main said: “the conduct and behavior exhibited when we caught the mine operator by surprise is nothing short of outrageous. […]

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Injury Control & Violence Remembering Dan Middaugh on this Worker Memorial Day
April 28, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

“Pray for the dead. Fight like hell for the living” was the rallying cry of community organizer Mother Jones (a.k.a. Mary Harris Jones, 1837-1930) to fire up workers as they demanded better working conditions and labor rights. The motto still resonates today, especially this week when workers, human rights, and public health advocates commemorate International […]

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Cancer CDC’s NIOSH corrects statement about asbestos, a known human carcinogen
April 22, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

Earlier this month, in my post “CDC’s NIOSH says WHAT about asbestos???” I reported on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) new treatise on asbestos, and my dismay with the agency’s characterization of the mineral as a “potential occupational carcinogen.” NIOSH’s current intelligence bulletins are supposed to convey the most up-to-date scientific […]

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Mining Search continues for Idaho silver mine worker, one mile deep underground
April 19, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 4Comment

[Updated 4/21/2011 below] [Updated 4/25/2011 below] Deep in the Bitterroot Mountains of the Idaho panhandle, mine rescue teams are working around the clock to locate Larry “Pete” Marek, 53. Marek and his brother were working in Hecla Mining’s Lucky Friday silver mine on Friday afternoon (4/15) when the roof collapsed. His brother Mike escaped, but […]

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Cancer CDC’s NIOSH says WHAT about asbestos???
April 5, 2011 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 10Comment

[Update 4/22/2011: see CDC’s NIOSH corrects asbestos statement] It was almost too much to believe. Here I was attending the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization’s (ADAO) annual meeting, mingling and learning from patients and researchers about asbestos-related disease, and I hear that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and […]

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