Pa. mine safety, research offices targeted for closure as president touts coal

The health and safety of coal miners could be in danger if the Trump administration eliminates mine safety employees, including those working at the Mine Safety and Health Administration office in Hempfield that oversees nine states, according to a union official.

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has trumpeted costs savings by laying off thousands of federal workers and terminating office leases.

DOGE said its move to end the leases at four Mine Safety and Health Administration offices in Pennsylvania will save the government $2.59 million out of a federal budget that projects $7 trillion in expenditures in this fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The four offices are its district office in Hempfield, which covers regions in Pennsylvania and eight other states, as well as field offices in Waynesburg, Marshall and Frackville, Schuylkill County.

The administration also plans to cut 200 jobs by June 30 at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health at Bruceton Mills in South Park.

“You take that away, then it’s like going back in the 1950s,” said Chuck Knisell, vice president of United Mine Workers of America District 2 International, which is based in Uniontown.

In all, the government efficiency agency has targeted 34 MSHA offices across the country in 19 coal-producing states, without releasing the details of whether those employees will be laid off or relocated to other offices.

If the cuts result in fewer mine safety inspectors on the job, that likely will result in less safe mines, Knisell said.

“There’s no question that the best way (for mine inspectors to work) is to be present at the operation,” said Joe Sbaffoni, the retired director of the state Bureau of Mine Safety, who was instrumental in the rescue of the nine trapped miners in the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County in 2002.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration lists five employees at the Hempfield office on its website, but none are designated as inspectors. Sbaffoni said inspectors could work from home, but that could result in them being farther away from the mines.

Mine inspectors in Pennsylvania have about 98 underground and surface bituminous coal mines to inspect and 60 anthracite mines, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The law requires underground mines to be inspected four times a year and surface mines two times a year for health and safety compliance, MSHA stated on its website.

But Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, which represents coal companies in the state, said the planned cutbacks by the Trump administration will not make the mines less safe.

The state has about 5,100 employees whose jobs are directly tied to the coal industry.

“I don’t think if (safety) will be compromised. We are duplicative in our oversight with MSHA and the state Bureau of Mine Safety. There is such an oversaturation” that some mines are getting inspected once a week, Gleason said.

Both the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health’s Pittsburgh Mining Research Division office are partners in making mines safe, Knisell said.

“That’s our protectors,” he added.

Spokespersons for the MSHA and NIOSH could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and another for Republican U.S. Sen. David McCormick did not respond to a request for comment.

The National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health’s research division is important because it has helped develop safety chambers, where miners could hole up in case of an explosion or mine collapse and have it stocked with oxygen, masks and food. It also has helped to develop respirators for miners, Knisell said.

Not only will the closing of the MSHA and NIOSH offices hurt miners, but Knisell said tariffs that took effect last week will affect miners as well.

China has increased tariffs by 15% on coal imports from the United States, in response to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products. Coal shipped for export on ships built in China also are being slapped with tariffs, high enough to add $500,000 to the shipping cost, Knisell said.

“It’s going to cause problems in Appalachia. There’s a lot of panic in the coal fields,” Knisell said. “We just can’t wipe out the coal industry.”

Trump touts coal

As the Trump administration terminates the leases of those mine safety offices, the president Tuesday was promoting coal as he was expected to sign an executive order allowing some some older coal-fired power plants to continue operations to meet the rising demand for power.

In this region, coal-fired plants still in operation include Conemaugh Generating Station near New Florence and Keystone Generating Station in Shelocta, Indiana County, but it is scheduled to cease production at the end of 2028.

Helping the coal industry to regain its power are goals of new Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Lee Zeldin. He aims to eliminate about 30 environmental rules, including those addressing emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Coal consumption has dropped most years since 2005, primarily because of the decline in the use of coal to produce electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coal accounted for just 16.2% of the power generated in the nation in 2023, according to the EIA.

Pennsylvania coal production however, has increased in the past few years, from 36.3 million tons in 2020 to 42.6 million tons in 2023, making it the third-largest coal producer in the nation, according to the state coal alliance and the EIA.