US district judge Kim Gibson of the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that the warnings violated federal mine safety laws.

The US Mine Safety and Health Administration filed a federal lawsuit December 30 claiming that staff at Rosebud’s Mine 78 in Somerset County and the Tracy Lynne operation in Armstrong County, both in Pennsylvania, provided advance notice of the arrival of federal inspectors.

The two operations were part of an impact inspection series and were visited August 12 and November 4 respectively by MSHA officials. While mine staff was warned against providing advance notice of an inspection party onsite, and despite federal staff overtaking the mines’ phone systems, the instructions were ignored at both operations.

Pre-notification is a violation of Section 103(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, or Mine Act.

“Mine employees understand that advance notification is illegal,” solicitor of labor M Patricia Smith said.

“The fact that workers at these two mines were cautioned against warning their colleagues underground of the presence of federal inspectors, yet did so anyway, shows a total disregard for the law.”

A preliminary injunction hearing was held January 7 and the order was handed down Tuesday.

Gibson said the court would hold a status conference at 60-day intervals to ensure the injunction was being enforced. The first such conference is scheduled for March 1.

A spokesperson for Rosebud Mining contacted by ILN had no comment.