DRUGS IN THE MINES

The death of a miner in Pike County last week should remind everyone
that digging coal is a dangerous business, requiring the sober and
determined efforts of everyone involved.

It certainly can't be done safely by anybody who is on drugs. That's
why the effort to push a drug testing bill through the General
Assembly must continue, despite the yawn it got during this year's
session.

Union spokesmen were concerned that the proposal was overly broad, but
there was no intent to require drug tests for everyone at mines where
fatalities or serious injuries occur. Specifics were to be worked out
by the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing, and approved by the
Kentucky Mining Board and a legislative review panel. There was no
reason to assume those regulations would overreach.

If anything, the next legislative proposal should be strengthened, to
allow drug testing not just when bad accidents occur, but also when
state regulators have good reason to believe someone is using drugs.
Given what's known about substance abuse at mines, even random drug
tests may be justified -- to help prevent deaths and injuries, instead
of just to help investigate them.

Foremen should be included in any such testing. There's no reason to
believe they are outside the reach of the coalfield drug culture. It
doesn't seem likely, for example, that a meth lab could operate on
site, as it did at one mine, without some supervisor knowing.

Yes, state testing would be costly and would require more personnel,
at a time when Kentucky already needs more inspectors. But there is no
real alternative. Renegade operators ignore the whole issue (and enjoy
a competitive advantage, especially in hiring) until something awful
happens.

The 15-member task force created by Kentucky Environmental and Public
Protection Cabinet Secretary LaJuana Wilcher, which is investigating
drugs in the mines, is heavily weighted with industry representatives.
But that's no reason to discount its eventual findings. At least one
member, Steve Earle from the United Mine Workers, is not shy about
advocating labor's interests.

Why another state regulatory effort? Because the federal Mine Safety
and Health Administration, especially as administered by the Bush
administration and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, has not shown the kind
of resolve necessary to do the job.