Document 3ey87gJL5v75xDBkn7RJ295JD

Mine tuae: 'w wjrw, iistii.:. ureau Turns Tough On Safety t4, By LAWRENCE E. TAYLOR ' ' A .WuUagtaw Conwpoaiart ' -f ef Ac Pow.D<ipiiiA ` ' - ........... _ WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 DESPITE THE APPARENT dissent by Its director, the Fedentt Bureau <rf Mine* has began handing out tougher fame In cases ha hAUth and safety law violations in undergroohd $0dl i At tbs asms >91 bvereefioisfa *e- khowledge that ateTnBw9 not deetined u espec*ed<%pd*r toe tooth tad* anl law that mat tote eBtot la April im ., away from top ho- j ta bask pnaljr aa Ah.fe fos beat year on itoori (a coal atee tei taWea. Iaitssd, tbsy angeling far napt . jtatnm la mhing the mam Ar. '. V-.: Recently, Cm bureau'* fcrectoe. THfetofr F. Osborn, confirmed that the awtaat flrector for health and safety, Hoary P. ;`JVheeter Jr., would be replaced, although ao aucceMor bad been choeen. In short, things evidently are not going ..the way they should at the Bureau ci Muss. '. THIS CONCLUSION is supported by the figure* of men killed in mining accidents. So far this year, 136 men have been ` killed, compared with US at this time ^ last year. . ' The rate of deaths is .77 each 1,060,006 hours worked is underground and strip Brines. This Is some improvement over the 1.02 rate for all at last year but only slightly better than the .85 for I960. When the fatality rate hit a low of .S) of Jtse, with 11 deaths, the bureau rushed out a press release with the good newt. . Then, <a July, 17 men were failed. The monthly rate climbed to 1.01 for each U0M00 hours worked and the bureau was silent. Last month 20 men were killed ata rate of -8&. More silence, ' Meanwhile, some higher fines were . being levied, as bureau officials bad - nromised. Since April, the fine for an fm^ .nbMflt danger of explosion and cave-In that requires dnajpg a nw* temporarily - has bean increased to $5600 from $2000. . In acme cases, officials mid, fines up to . the maximum of $10,000 have been dhaiged. - In a recent interview, before It was learned that fines had been lucreamd. Oo- _ ... feprn was asked whether penalties Should . gc stricter than thorn sisrrsnd earlier this fear. ' Osborn said he beiievnd that fiaes for * flagrant and repeated offenses teoald be " increased but continued, "I thtak foe fines are hurting {mine operators) mrjugjh that the gain from larger fiaes wuuMeeth* S factor. We believe the level fc about Tight." - * He said that nUe eriticafewd ooas phisid of tokae fines, **he mf* operatars hats cried, `You're kHUog os'." ` EVEN AS OSBORN said fete, foe fines . more being increased -- apparently at the direction of Edward D. Pallor, the centre .. venial assistant to Osborn. - Pallor, In charge of mnaami.utT, mid ' he bad premised months before that fines would be boosted and they were. Ha said that Osborn did not order the incream but teas kept informed rf tt. . , Now soma members of Cowcrms have added their voices to those of Wastry apofaiamfn who complained that fines . were too high, Failor said. "Legislators are totting us privately that . 4he wwmti ef Haas am sareaacaiabte wad unrealistic,'' he said. "Nevertheless, ftey are going up." Failor denied recently published reports that he, not Osborn, was running the bu reau. Fatter, a Republican potttied fnad-rmiy er aad lawyer, was appetelad to foajpfe *x the renommitaifiriOB f the Wbfte (Itosa. Osborn said. Failor said that bs did aot jttk toe Job, wtoek pegs 3M> mw, *---- Odom makes. Ha said that aftar foe Hy- dea, Kj., i 1 ** * - ` that failed 31 mm, be was telephoned im Iowa and atoad to work far the bureau. He restated, ha said, aatfl "they waved tosfiag."............. . . Saaa than, be has bem (ba cantor of a to award a rnahert far a totes safety caanl|w to a public mlatinas firm alreafr fared as a uuaauhsut. W few Da- . paitmenMf Xatotteg, af whkA fee faneaa Is a part. That potpattaliy Illegal situation prompted as tovustigataoQ fey a Bourn subcommittee that was sdQ under way. Failor has besn among thorn chiming that things were improving Im the nation's coal mines. He sounded a swarerhaf different note, however, is a speech to the Institute on Environmental Health Heard* this week at Blacksburg, Vs, There he touched only briefly on the progress m making the mines safer and said instead: "Why should we accept 200 deaths esch year plus of so- called lucky nonfatals. (accidents)? The day Is here when people in and out of the industry will no longer accept this yearly sacrifice to King Coal." Osborn, too, has become more cautious. In the Interview, be looked at a chart showing the nearly parallel hum of coal mine <Uja Hii year and last. "We are stiQ just keepteg pace with last year," he mid. "Coal product!oe ia an in dustry, and it is ant p to ns to put them out of business -- but, by gofiy, we've got to get compliance (with the law).** Although deaths remain high, be contin ued, other statistic* show that the mines should be better than before. For example, be arid, the. number of inspections has increased; more inspec tors have bees hired, and the amount of coal dost ffaating in the air, a cause of black hmg, has been reduced. ANOTHER YOKE of dissatisfaction with the way things are going is Wheeler. Wheeler said that he had beard from a reporter the confirmation that be was to fee replaced. *Td beard rumors about it -- I knew it was a fact but no one in au thority bad arid me," be amid. Wheeler said that the rising death total la mieea Indicated "some question that we are not concentrating our efforts la the right place." Something rust be dene to "widen the gap (of deaths totals), mot jmt parallel it" be said. One possible tochnlqne would be a pro gram to make ulnars, supervisors and operators more safety-conscious, be aid. If Inspection*-and stiffer pen alties do zyrt do the Job, "tt means that some people are going to die who ought not to dte," Wheeler said. He admowtedgad that some bureau offi cials seemed to wony more about the bu reau's public image than about reducing the camber ad mine casualties. "Let's totritilM dg.~be tak) in dim:unpeg recent bed-'publicity, "cd the rest wfl tifetatold Haatf." Wbatom aasl that some programs, such as am afestod at cutting the number of cave-ire, wdre fast taking bold and that their efjacfe bad not been registered. "W4 have e serious credftaUty prob- Isbi/1 bs stod. *Tve got soma credibility yihere it counts -- with the miners, the unions aad the public" He todtoatod teet herere officials imd here Mbls to fiad * sweresor far hire. "1 wouldn't be surprtaed if I'm trend garic white," be remarked. Whal Beco By TED GEr CONNIE ROSJ Of the Posl-Di* A LOUD WHIST! at the State Tra: Boys at Boonville residents that on inmates had esc: Some residents suf tegixialive coramitte out of use as a war -- be reinstituted 1 increasing number school. If it is. it is fikel way or another -- There, when the venes in January undoubtedly will juvenile deiinque The Missouri that precifulatec was bandeg dm have much.effec THE COURT veaile offender; to aduk penal school's tradit ring inmates without a he due process It said tha the authoriri corrections not be dcn< mg School either. Thereafl nile offend wlature. A mowents o commltM#; study the jv propriation The Boar; tvetor of M g^ocies, n bets lest Mot teg ths appt f1 I DSW 333763 STLCOPCB4080340