When people do business in Wyoming, we expect them to be good operators and neighbors. We pride ourselves with doing a good job and contributing to our communities. So we need to be wary of these recently-arrived mine operators from Appalachia who are showing up in Wyoming with their blemished mine-safety records — we don’t need that here.
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Editor’s note: Stacy Page is a member of the board of directors of the Powder River Basin Resource Council and a former Department of Environmental Quality mining regulator.
When people do business in Wyoming, we expect them to be good operators and neighbors. We pride ourselves with doing a good job and contributing to our communities. So we need to be wary of these recently-arrived mine operators from Appalachia who are showing up in Wyoming with their blemished mine-safety records — we don’t need that here.
Data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) that tracks and penalizes mine safety violations shows that Jeffrey Hoops, owner of Revelation Energy and Blackjewel (owner of the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines) has racked up over $926,000 in violations from 50 mines. MSHA also reported that the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund, owned by the Kemmerer mine’s new owner Tom Clarke, has accrued about $736,000 in violations from just two mines.
These safety violation are red flags warning us that these operators are not the companies we want running these mines. They don’t take mine safety seriously, and that should worry all of us. It may be easy to shrug off because the mines are back east, an “it’s not happening here” mentality, but if they cut corners there, why wouldn’t they do the same thing here? MSHA data shows that worker injury rates are higher in mines with delinquent penalties, so we can’t ignore these delinquencies. Endangering miners hurts our communities, and we shouldn’t put up with it.
Stacy Page
Sheridan
