Bush Picks MSHA and OSHA Heads
The position of assistant secretary of labor within the Mine Safety and Health Administration remains vacant since Dave Lauriski resigned on Nov. 19, 2004.
President Bush, however, nominated Richard Stickler of West Virginia to fill that spot.This intention was made public in September. Stickler was the director of Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety during the 2002 Quecreek accident. Earlier in his career, he worked for Beth Energy Mines for 30 years. He held a number of positions including manager, superintendent and shift foreman. He received his bachelor's degree from Fairmont State College.
Bush also said he intends to nominate Edwin G. Foulke Jr., to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as assistant secretary of labor.
Foulke is a partner with the law firm of Jackson Lewis, LLP in Greenville, S.C. Foulke has served as chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. He also served as an adjunct professor at St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans. He received his bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University and his law degree from Loyola University. He also earned a master's degree from Georgetown University.
Under Lauriski's administration, the mining industry had the lowest number of mine fatalities since statistics were first recorded in 1910. Mining fatalities dropped 34% between 2000 and 2003.