A wrongful-death lawsuit related to Massey Energy’s Aracoma Alma coal mine commenced yesterday in West Virginia courthouse. Mr. Donald Bragg, 33, and Mr. Elvis Hatfield, 46, died in a mine fire on January 19, 2006. According to an Associated Press account (here) the widows’ attorney Bruce Stanley told the jury that Massey Energy’s CEO, Don Blankenship urged the mine’s managers to focus on […]
November 10, 2008
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OSHA’s Asst. Secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr sent a farewell letter to the staff, dated Election Day Nov 7, recounting his goal on taking the job in March 2006: “I just want OSHA to be the best Agency it can be” Reading his 4-page farewell letter, he thinks he accomplished it. He asserts: “without a doubt, we […]
November 10, 2008
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A former Department of Labor career employee who is expert in administrative law offers three simple steps for the Obama Administration to revitalize the federal rulemaking system. Pete Galvin’s open letter to President-elect Obama provides thoughtful insight and recommendations that, if implemented, would go a long way to get our public health agencies (OSHA, MSHA, EPA) back […]
November 7, 2008
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by Bob Snashall, retired Labor Dept employee (Op-Ed Charleston Gazette, Nov 7, 2008) George W. Bush & Company did one thing well – it bagged a lot of public information and taxidermied it into secrets. The shroud of secrecy even spread over mine safety. Mine safety? The law envisions everybody chipping in to protect miners from the perils of […]
November 6, 2008
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In “DuPont finds high levels of C8 in Chinese workers,” Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette writes that workers at the Changshu, China plant had average blood concentration of about 2,250 ppb of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), an agent used to make the non-stick compound Teflon. Ward writes: “DuPont Co. has found high levels of the toxic chemical C8 in […]
November 6, 2008
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In Milwaukee, 69% of voters cast their ballots in favor of a requirement for employers to provide their workers with paid sick leave. Milwaukee becomes the third city â after San Francisco and Washington, DC â to adopt a requirement for paid sick days. Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel explains: Under the measure, a […]
November 6, 2008
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In 1966 when the original Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) became law, President Lyndon B. Johnson said he “signed this measure with a deep sense of pride that the U.S. is an open society in which the peopleâs right to know is cherished and guarded.â The law’s purpose is âto establish a general philosophy of full […]
November 5, 2008
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In honor of yesterday’s historic election, I’m delighted to share this poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938). Lift every voice and sing Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of […]
November 3, 2008
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Only 14 days after Gloria McInnis died in an explosion at a Goodyear plan in Houston, her husband Raymond McInnis testified before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security. At the June 25, 2008 hearing, Mr. McInnis explained why he was present and sharing his grief and pain in such a public forum: […]
November 3, 2008
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On the eve of the election, The Nation reminds us that the next president will play a crucial role in determining the makeup of the Supreme Court. Herman Schwartz describes the Court’s current makeup and rattles off current rulings that would be threatened by the appointment of another conserviative justice. Then, other contributors explain how […]