Labor Dept. Balks at Cost of Crandall Canyon Mine Probe

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: WP/AP

By Jesse J. Holland
Associated Press
Sunday, October 7, 2007; Page A21

The Labor Department said Friday that it could cost millions of dollars and take months to respond to a House committee's subpoena looking at the agency's oversight of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah, site of a fatal accident in August.

Jonathan Snare, the department's acting solicitor, said nearly 15,000 documents already had been turned over to the House Education and Labor Committee before Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) issued a subpoena in September.

Miller's committee asked for extensive records related to the department's oversight of the Crandall Canyon mine, including internal communications. That committee on Wednesday heard from the miners' relatives, who told lawmakers they blame the government and mine owners for the fatal cave-in.

"Broad electronic searches of archived electronic data, as contemplated by the committee's letters (and required by the subpoena) could cost millions of dollars and require weeks or months to complete even by contracting with a vendor," Snare said Friday in a letter to the committee. Just searching through their e-mails for material related to the Crandall Canyon mine could cost $3.5 million and take 20 weeks, Labor officials said.

Snare offered to meet with committee members to go over the scope of the request. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to produce the records....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601373.html?hpid=sec-nation

[FormerOstrich]

1. I don't understand....

:wtf:

Just searching through their e-mails for material related to the Crandall Canyon mine could cost $3.5 million and take 20 weeks, Labor officials said.

How can this be true? Something is seriously wrong if searching e-mails is a multi-million dollar activity.

[tanyev]

2. They didn't think $47 million was outrageous to investigate Monica and Whitewater.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Now THAT is a good point!!! nt

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. Billions for death, nothing at all for life.

This nation DESERVES to go belly up.

[Turbineguy]

5. Department against Labor

Until Bush leaves.

[bemildred]

6. Electronic searches are cheap, dirt cheap. nt

[Omaha Steve]

7. OOPS Excuse me

My bull crap detector went off again. Truth from this administration doesn't exist!

[damntexdem]

8. With this administration, when can the bullcrap detectors rest?

But at least it shows change: they go from 'we can't afford to DO anything' to 'we can't afford to research what we've not done.'

[spinbaby]

9. Murray is a big-time Republican donor

You betcha they're going to protect him.