These KY federal mine safety offices once on chopping block will be spared
Offices that oversee mine safety inspections will not be closed, the U.S. Department of Labor announced last week.
The Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE originally listed 34 Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials on its website for closure, including seven offices in Kentucky.
But a spokesperson for the federal labor department, which oversees that federal agency, told the Associated Press last week those offices will not be closed.
In a statement released Thursday, the department said it has been working closely with the General Services Administration “to ensure our MSHA inspectors have the resources they need to carry out their core mission to prevent death, illness, and injury from mining and promote safe and healthy workplaces for American miners.”
Mine Safety and Health Administration is tasked with keeping both mines and miners safe.
Mine safety advocates had pushed back on the closure of the offices tasked with inspections of coal mines.
Others wondered how the offices could carry out key inspections and other safety mandates if those inspectors and other support staff did not have an office.
The United Mine Workers of America, the largest union representing miners, applauded the reversal in a statement released Friday.
“The idea that anyone would even consider shuttering dozens of MSHA field offices, most of which are located in remote mining communities, shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to keep miners safe,” said UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts.
“We’ve said from day one that cutting these offices would compromise inspectors’ ability to respond quickly to accidents, enforce safety regulations, and protect the lives of our members and their coworkers.”
A spokesperson for the mine safety agency did not immediately respond to an email on Monday.
The fate of the Kentucky offices has long been questioned because the offices’ leases were listed as terminated on DOGE website in late February.
Kentucky officials told the Lexington Herald-Leader in March no one, including local officials where those offices are located, had been notified the offices were set to close.
The offices are still listed on the DOGE website for closure. They were part of a sweeping effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to curtail federal spending through lease terminations and axing federal grants.
The effort was overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, who has since left the administration in part due to political pushback to DOGE’s tactics.
What offices were to be closed in Kentucky?
The seven Mine Safety and Health Administration offices once scheduled to be shuttered include: Madisonville, Barbourville, Beaver Dam, London, Hazard, Harlan and Prestonsburg.
Madisonville and Barbourville are the two largest offices.
It’s not clear how many inspectors work in Kentucky.
The federal mine agency is required to inspect each underground mine four times a year and each surface mine twice a year for health and safety compliance.
“Certain mines with high levels of explosive or toxic gasses are inspected more often. Inspections are also conducted in response to complaints of hazardous conditions,” according to its website.
