The governor is listening
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Gov. Butch Otter waits for the commencement of a town hall meeting Monday in Wallace where residents and business owners sought answers about the recent Lucky Friday Mine closure.</p>
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Brandon Junso, a mining engineer who works as a consultant, poses the question to why mine safety inspectors are allowed to make decisions on closures when the requirements for position does not require engineering knowledge.</p>
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press "What they're doing is unconstitutional," Dan Thompson called out about the Mine Safety and Health Administrations decision to close the Lucky Friday Mine for one year.</p>
WALLACE - Open the Lucky Friday Mine tomorrow, Dan Thompson said, and most of the employees would return.
"They know the risk each time they've worked underground," said Thompson, who has worked at most mines in the Silver Valley and whose son worked at Lucky Friday. "This is outrageous, what MSHA (Mining Safety and Health Administration) is doing. It's abuse of federal authority."
But when it comes to asking federal regulators to budge on the closure of the mine that has been a major employer in the Silver Valley, says Gov. Butch Otter, options are limited.
"I don't know what to do beyond what I'm doing now, or what I'm trying to do now," Otter said on Monday at the Wallace Inn in Wallace, where he conducted a town hall meeting on the impacts of MSHA shuttering Lucky Friday Mine for a year while Hecla Mining Co. addresses safety issues in its primary shaft.
Otter said that so far he has met local government in Shoshone County, as well as Hecla executives who said they will be discussing the extent of Lucky Friday's problems with MSHA.
"It's frustrating to me that maybe they did not understand at that level, the federal level, what the problems were at Lucky Friday," Otter said, adding that he will also try to educate the agency on the complexities of the situation, and the importance of keeping the mine from deteriorating during the closure.
Otter spoke to a crowd of roughly 100, some miners, most simply Silver Valley business owners and citizens worried for the welfare of their community during the closure.
The closure puts 185 employees out of a job, as well as up to 100 contracted to work at the mine.
The Idaho Department of Labor has said if the closure stretches a full year, it could reduce income in the Silver Valley by more than $13 million.
"There's a lot of frustration and anger. And fear," said Art Fleming, a pastor in Wallace. "There's a lot of talk about the possibility of going to Nevada or Alaska, or just waiting it out."
"It'll be a long wait," noted his friend and chaplain Phil Squire.
Marcy Hayman, who owns multiple businesses in Wallace, said the mine's closure will impact every business in town.
"I've seen trailers move here in caravans. Now you'll see them move out in caravans," she said. "This is a time the government is supposed to be putting back to work. To take work away from these people is terrible."
Otter said he will urge MSHA representatives to conduct a similar town hall event in the Silver Valley, and fully explain the nature of the closure and the reopening process.
He encouraged the community to organize a group of folks knowledgeable about mining to meet with the agency's representatives to lay out their concerns.
"Start selecting that team now, because if I have my way, (MSHA) will be here soon," Otter said.
He added that Hecla plans to provide former Lucky Friday employees with jobs on surface projects, or with other mines, with hopes most employees will be in the area when the mine reopens.
"Their workforce is very important," Otter said.
When he welcomed comments from the crowd, many vented their frustration with MSHA and bureaucracy, some garnering applause when they insisted the closure was unnecessary.
"It's our brothers, fathers, husbands, fathers of students who go underground," said Robin Stanley, superintendent of the Mullan School District. "We have more investment in safety than MSHA."
Some offered ideas. David Sherman of Wallace wondered why there aren't efforts to open more mines in the area. Mullan City Council member Chuck Reitz said he wants to see the creation of a state mining inspector to give Idaho more control in such situations.
Brandon Junso, a mining engineer from Spirit Lake, said his research has dug up discrepancies over Hecla's reasons for closure.
He also presented the MSHA inspector application and pointed out its minimal qualifications.
"If you've having a hard time with employment, you have a simple math test and writing exam to take," Junso said, noting that MSHA should be working with experts at Hecla on any issues.
Otter said he would make every effort to help where he can.
"I'm going to be engaged," he said.
Anthony Knapp, a miner who worked at Lucky Friday, wasn't fully encouraged by the meeting.
"I didn't hear anything that's going to get the mine opened up tomorrow," he said. "But at least the governor is listening."
Currently on unemployment to support his wife and two children, he said, he has no other plans right now.
"I'm just going to wait, take what's available," Knapp said. "Go back to work when the mine opens back up."