John Cheves has another (who is surprised? he never stops with these awesome stories) blow out of a Frankfort doozy:

State inspectors last year cited and shut down a small coal mine near Pikeville for not having a mine emergency technician on duty, in violation of a mine-safety law requiring at least two METs whenever coal is being produced.

That mine was owned by state Rep. Keith Hall, D-Phelps, who is now using his political clout to attack the law, calling it unreasonably tough.

Hall’s House Bill 119, awaiting a House floor vote, would cut from two to one the number of METs required at coal mines that employ fewer than 18 people, as his does. METs are miners trained for free by the state to provide on-site medical care to their colleagues in case of an accident. The legislature added the two-MET minimum in 2007 after a series of miner deaths.

Hall is president and owner of Beech Creek Coal Co., which owns the underground coal reserves at Mine #1 in Phelps currently being mined on contract by Kimara Coal Co. (Another lawmaker, House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, is a paid consultant to Beech Creek Coal.)

We think Steve Earle is making the understatement of the century when he says this is a mere conflict of interest.

You’re going to want to read the rest…