Washington – Sen. Ken Salazar is part of a call for hearings on mine safety in the wake of the mine accident in West Virginia that killed 12 miners.
Salazar, D-Colo., joined in a Tuesday letter to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., noting that since 2001, Congress has not conducted a single comprehensive oversight hearing on mine safety and asking for “a thorough congressional review” of several areas of mine safety.
“More than half of America’s electricity comes from coal,” Salazar said. “But every effort should be made to ensure that it does not come at the cost of a single life.”
Enzi said earlier this week that he will hold a mine safety hearing. No date has been set, but Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said federal mine safety officials would be called to testify before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that would hold hearings beginning Thursday.
