Mine Safety Chief Faces More Scrutiny

Richard Stickler, left, head of the federal Mining Safety and Health Administration, and Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., depart a news conference concerning rescue efforts for six trapped miners Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007, at the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine northwest of Huntington, Utah. Rob Moore, a top executive of the company that co-owns the collapsed Crandall Canyon Mine said Sunday that it's likely the six miners missing for nearly two weeks inside the mountain may never be found.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (Rick Bowmer - AP)

Stickler grew up in West Virginia and worked for Beth Energy Mines Inc. for 30 years as a shift foreman, superintendent and mine manager. From 1997 to 2003, he served as director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, overseeing the agency when the Quecreek mine flooded and almost killed nine coal miners. He was praised for his work on the 2002 rescue but criticized by some who thought his agency could have prevented the accident.

Bush nominated Stickler to head MSHA in 2005, but his confirmation was blocked by Democrats, who feared a mine executive would be too accommodating of the industry.

They questioned the safety record of the mines he ran, saying incident rates doubled the national average in six of eight years. One mine had two fatal accidents in five years.

MSHA spokeswoman Louviere said Beth Energy sent Stickler to problem mines, where he helped improve safety. In at least two cases, he lowered the accident rates significantly. During his tenure at Pennsylvania's mine office, she said, the state's overall accident rate decreased by 45 percent.

Stickler has said he witnessed tragic mine accidents that left him dedicated to safety. "I think my track record in Pennsylvania proves that I did not go easy on mine operators," he said at the time he was appointed to head the agency.

His appointment became even more controversial after West Virginia's Sago Mine explosion in January 2006, one of three high-profile accidents that helped make 2006 the deadliest year for coal mining in more than a decade.

Twelve miners died at Sago, and a total of 47 coal miners perished in 2006. Their deaths inspired a flurry of new laws and prompted Congress to push for a tough enforcer to head MSHA.

Bush eventually got his way, however, by doing an end run around Congress and installing Stickler during its October break. Because he was appointed without the consent of the Senate, Stickler's term expires at the end of this congressional session unless the Senate confirms him in the meantime.

To many worker advocates' surprise, they found Stickler hasn't been nearly as easy on mine companies as many expected him to be.

Stickler also won praise after he made public an embarrassing internal review done after Sago and two other accidents last year. The reports uncovered several examples of "questionable conduct," including instances in which MSHA inspectors missed obvious problems.

"I think Mr. Stickler is about as good an assistant secretary we can expect from the Bush administration," said Tony Oppegard, a former top federal and state of Kentucky mine safety official who now represents miners as a private attorney in Lexington, Ky.

Still, Oppegard and others have criticized Stickler's public performance and his decision-making at Crandall Canyon.