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April 16, 2010

Obama Orders Mine Inspections, Faults Owners of W. Va. Mine
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President Obama has ordered inspections at all US mines with bad safety
records following the disaster that killed twenty-nine miners in West
Virginia last week. On Thursday, Obama said poor government oversight
and irresponsible management had led to the explosion at the Upper Big
Branch Mine.

President Obama: “Starting today, we’ll go back and take another look at
mines across this country with troubling safety records and get
inspectors into those mines immediately to ensure they aren’t facing the
same unsafe working conditions that led to this disaster. We do know
that this tragedy was triggered by a failure at the Upper Big Branch
Mine—a failure first and foremost of management, but also a failure of
oversight and a failure of laws so riddled with loopholes that they
allowed unsafe conditions to continue.”

The Upper Big Branch explosion was the worst mining disaster in forty
years. The owner and operator of the mine, Massey Energy, has been cited
for thousands of safety violations in recent years, with fifty-seven
citations just last month.