Despite minor fire, Morton Salt clears 2.5-year safety watch | Business News
After nearly 2½ years of regulatory scrutiny and upgrades, the Morton Salt mine in New Iberia has been removed from a “safety watch” after improving its compliance with federal rules, U.S. officials said.
In December 2022, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, the workplace safety regulator for miners, placed the Morton Salt mine inside the Weeks Island salt dome under greater scrutiny for a series of violations that could have resulted in serious employee injuries.
Morton Salt, which operates the Weeks Island Mine and Mill, implemented measures that led to better workplace conditions, MSHA officials said.
“We recognize the efforts made by Weeks Island Mine and Mill to take the corrective actions needed,” Melanie Calhoun, MSHA’s acting deputy assistant secretary for operations, said in a statement. “They have created a safer working environment for their miners.”
MSHA officials declined to comment in detail on what changes Morton Salt has made at the mine. Morton Salt officials and representatives of the miners’ union have not responded to requests for comment.
The end of the watch status came three months after the mine had a small fire tied to an equipment breakdown. No one was injured.
Also, since early December 2024, rive employees have received injuries that caused time away from the job or limited work duties at Morton Salt, including slips and falls that tore a thigh muscle and an Achilles tendon, a twisted back and a punch that broke a jaw.
The fire and injuries unrelated to the fire did not appear to be tied to any notices of serious violations from MSHA, according to an agency database.
The “pattern of violations” notice that triggered the earlier safety watch revolved around mine shaft roofs and walls and the prevention of potentially deadly mine collapses, agency officials said.
A pattern of violations amounts to a serious warning with the threat of a potential halt of mining in areas where safety problems are found.
The notice was the first MSHA had issued against a mining operation since 2014. At the time, agency officials said the Morton Salt mine was a chronic violator that demonstrated “a disregard for the health and safety of miners.”
The mine has employed between 150 and 230 people in recent years, MSHA data show. Though known for table salt, the company also sells salt to de-ice roads in cold climates, the company says.