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Secretary Chao Appoints Second Team to Investigate Crandall Canyon Disaster

September 10th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

In a rare show of less than complete loyalty within the U.S. Department of Labor, Secretary Elaine Chao has announced an independent review of the MSHA’s actions in the ill-fated rescue attempt at the Crandall Canyon Mine.

Secretary Chao recently announced that an independent team of mine safety experts will investigate the MSHA’s actions in response to the tragedy. This team is separate from the MSHA’s internal special investigative team, which will determine the causes of and lessons to be learned from the disaster.

Although Chao pays lip service to the efforts MSHA has expended, it’s clear that she is addressing critics who claim that the MSHA should have done more to prevent the accident.

“I am taking the unprecedented step of appointing independent outside experts to evaluate MSHA’s actions regarding the tragedy at Crandall Canyon Mine on August 6 and subsequent rescue efforts,” Secretary Chao said. “The Crandall Canyon miners, the rescuers who were injured and perished in trying to save others, and the loved ones who have suffered so much in this tragedy continue to be foremost in our thoughts.”

An independent evaluation is especially important since the MSHA’s chief, Assistant Labor Secretary for Mine Safety Richard Stickler, was directly involved in the ill-fated rescue efforts that cost 3 additional men their lives, and resulted in serious injuries to 6 others.

The independent review will be headed by two mine safety experts, Joseph W. Pavlovich and Earnest C. Teaster, Jr. Insiders speculate that Secretary Chao chose the two men because one is an expert in coal mine safety, while the other is an expert in rescue operations. While both men, like most mine safety experts, are former MSHA employees, Chao insists that they have no particular allegiance to Richard Stickler and can be objective in the case.

Joseph Pavlovich of Gray, Kentucky is a highly-respected MSHA former district manager and expert on mine rescue. He logged 30 years of hands-on experience in underground and surface coal mine safety and health. While at MSHA