DEP Secretary to RFK: Keep Pittsburgh mine research lab open

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania officials are asking the federal government to keep a research lab focused on mine safety open in the Keystone State.

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Jessica Shirley sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging the federal government to keep the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s Pittsburgh Research Lab open.

DEP says the lab focuses on “critical mine safety research” that keeps more than 3,000 Pennsylvania miners and thousands more nationally safe.

“Pennsylvania has a long legacy of mining — stretching back hundreds of years — and we owe it to our mine workers, their families, and mining communities to ensure their safety and continue this critical research,” said Shirley in the letter. “Since its inception in 1910 as the Bureau of Mines, the work accomplished by this group has undoubtedly saved lives and advanced the industry forward. Losing this facility will impede advancements in mine safety, harm the mining industry, and put workers at risk.”

DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety works with PRL, the agency says, to provide training, tools, and best practices to the mining industry as well as mine rescue training at its experimental mine.

Following the 2002 Quecreek Mine disaster, the office helped develop drilling equipment and protocols.

Earlier this year, the lab was subject to layoffs.