By Willa B. Perlmutter Well, guys, I hate to say I told you so, but…well, I told you so. A few months back, I wrote about a whistleblower retaliation case that had just come out of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, and shared with you that I thought the Commission’s reasoning gave cause for alarm. (I know,…
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Lately I’ve been giving some thought to what MSHA considers “enhanced enforcement,” which really refers to enforcement actions that MSHA takes against a mine operator beyond the § 104(a) citations that are the most frequent result of a mine inspection. (We call them “§ 104(a) citations” because the authority for issuing them comes from § 104(a) of the Mine Act.…
Read MoreBy Joe C. Matteo and Willa B. Perlmutter Have you ever wondered if polluted water that leaks from a settling pond into groundwater and eventually reaches a river is a “discrete” source of pollution? Or why it matters? You can likely envision a scenario where a mining operation has settling ponds that leak into groundwater before eventually entering a waterway.…
Read MoreBy Willa B. Perlmutter One of my very favorite clients recently sustained a self-inflicted and completely avoidable (and expensive) wound. Since I can’t go back and prevent it from happening, I hope that maybe I can keep the rest of you from falling into the same trap. Let’s talk about what happened. One morning, I received an email from my…
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By Ramona Monroe and Wade Foster At its most basic level, to explore for minerals and develop a mine, a mining company must have three fundamental legal rights: (i) access to minerals (and secure mineral tenure), (ii) access to capital and (iii) governmental and social licenses. A well-trained mineral lawyer or landman who understands the industry is critical at each…
Read MoreBy Eric L. Martin For many Americans, the last half of August brings into intense focus all that the end of summer entails: back to school, Labor Day barbeques, etc. However, to those in the western U.S. mining industry, the last half of August also implicates the critical task of ensuring that unpatented federal mining claims do not become automatically…
Read MoreBy Willa B. Perlmutter Here’s a fun fact. Going back as early as 1998, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has promised the mining industry it would issue a rule that addresses workplace exposures to respirable crystalline silica at mine sites around the country. (By “rule,” I really mean “regulation.” In other words, a binding requirement issued under…
Read MoreBy Willa B. Perlmutter In my last column, I talked about a coming shift in the analysis the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission will use when it considers retaliation cases brought by the Secretary of Labor or by miners under § 105(c) of the Mine Act. For those of you that missed that column, here’s the deal: until…
Read MoreBy Willa B. Perlmutter A couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference on occupational safety and health law sponsored by the American Bar Association for lawyers from the government, labor and private employers. (Admit it. The idea of hanging out with a bunch of lawyers for five days in a hotel ballroom thrills you, doesn’t it?) The first day…
Read MoreBy Willa B. Perlmutter Let me tell you about an experience I had with a Labor Department lawyer earlier this month. It was one of those experiences that made me realize how important it is for those of us in the mining industry to have a good working knowledge of the Mine Act and how enforcement is supposed to work.…
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