American Coal sues MSHA, contends quotas on violation citations
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A coal company fined about $1.5 million last month for safety violations at its Galatia operation is suing federal regulators.
The American Coal Company on Monday filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in East St. Louis against the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, contending violations of federal law and MSHA's own regulations in inspections at Galatia Mining Complex.
American Coal operates three longwall mines at the Galatia Complex, including the Galatia North Mine, the New Era Mine and the New Future Mine.
The suit contends MSHA instructed mine safety inspectors to issue violations based on quotas, failed to notify the company when inspectors were at the mine and failed to allow company representatives to be present during inspections, according to a news release from American Coal. The suit also contends the actions taken by MSHA officials were the result of animosity toward American Coal and its management.
In the lawsuit, American Coal asks for a ruling declaring citation quotas are a form of arbitrary rulemaking that falls outside the law and prohibiting MSHA from making arbitrary rules and violation quotas against the company.
The suit was filed after what the news release calls "a series of complaints" were made by the company to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Labor, the agency that oversees MSHA. In June, American Coal requested the OIG investigate what it considers to be abusive inspection practices at the Galatia Complex, the news release indicated.
The lawsuit states MSHA imposed a quota on safety inspectors, which contravenes the federal Mine Safety Act of 1977. On or about Nov. 13, 2007, Steve Miller, a coal mine inspector for MSHA District 8, told managers of American Coal he was directed by supervisors at MSHA to issue 0.4 violations per inspection hour, the suit contends.
Around the time of Miller's statement, MSHA inspectors began issuing what the suit describes as "unfounded and baseless violation orders against the plaintiff."
MSHA inspectors illegally entered the New Future Mine, one of the three mines at the Galatia Mining Complex, when two inspectors came to the mine on May 3 without notifying American Coal's communications center as required by federal regulations, according to the lawsuit. The mine is required to track everyone underground in the event of an accident, according to the lawsuit.
Entering the mine without notifying American Coal deprives company managers of the right to participate in inspections and violates the mine's own emergency response plan, the suit contends.
In October, MSHA issued a press release announcing $1.5 million in fines against American Coal's Galatia operation since fall 2007. The lawsuit contends the press release -- and its tone -- was inconsistent with MSHA's past practices and demonstrates animosity against American Coal.
On May 14, David Whitcomb, former acting district manager of MSHA District 8, when asked if anything out of the ordinary had recently occurred at Galatia, told the Platts Coal Trader newsletter, "Nothing that could not be overcome with prudent engineering and sound management," according to the lawsuit.
Specific defendants named in the suit include Richard Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety; Kevin Stricklin, acting MSHA administrator for coal mine safety and health; and district managers and inspectors from MSHA's District 8 office
in Vincennes, Ind.
American Coal Company is a subsidiary of Ohio-based Murray Energy, which owns the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah, site of a mining disaster in August 2007 in which nine miners died. The Crandall Canyon disaster has been a flashpoint for controversy since.
The Associated Press left messages Tuesday morning seeking comment from MSHA.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.