Today, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) alerted the President and Congress that a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation substantiated serious safety and inspection concerns with active mines in the U.S. Pacific Territories of Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Whistleblowers disclosed to OSC that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) repeatedly failed to inspect active underground and surface mines and falsely identified and reported them to Congress as “abandoned."
The DOL investigation substantiated the whistleblowers' allegations that 51 mines in the Pacific Territories had not been inspected since at least 2016, with inspections not scheduled until 2027. In connection, the DOL Office of Inspector General released an alert in 2024 during the investigation citing “urgent concerns for miner safety and health," while MSHA has been inaccurately reporting to Congress 100 percent inspection completion rates since at least 2023.
“OSC is thankful to the whistleblowers for bringing these disclosures to us, and we recommend that the DOL recognize their contributions to help ensure the safety of miners in the Pacific Territories," said Senior Counsel Charles Baldis.
A new OSC policy encourages agencies to provide monetary rewards in some whistleblower cases in line with agencies' existing statutory authority to grant whistleblowers rewards of up to $10,000, or more in some instances.