"Trump Nominates Former Coal Exec To Run MSHA"

"President Donald Trump on Saturday indicated he has chosen as the nation’s top mine safety official the former chief executive of Rhino Resources, a coal company that repeatedly clashed with federal regulators when the Obama administration Labor Department tried to step up industry-wide enforcement in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in a generation.

The White House announced that Trump intended to nominate David G. Zatezalo, of Wheeling, as assistant secretary of labor for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Zatezalo was the final name on an alphabetical list of more than three dozen appointees made public by the White House on the Saturday morning of the three-day Labor Day weekend.

In its announcement, the White House noted that Zatezalo had retired in late 2014 as chairman of Rhino Resources after serving in various top posts at Rhino, including president and chief executive officer and chief operating officer. Zatezalo had joined Rhino in March 2007, according to a corporate biography."

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail September 2, 2017.