Following a string of high-profile mine accidents that left dozens dead in recent years, coal operators say the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has become extremely heavy-handed in an attempt to counteract accusations of lax oversight.

During the first 10 months of fiscal 2008, MSHA says it has slapped mine operators with $97.4 million in fines - a 141 percent increase over last year's total. Citations and orders for various infractions are up nearly 8 percent as well.

Producers say the spike in enforcement actions has stifled productivity, increased costs and prevented mine operators from cashing in on soaring international demand.

Prices, particularly for metallurgical-grade coal for powering steel blast furnaces, have tripled over the past year in response to the weak U.S. dollar, foreign shipping bottlenecks, ocean freight rates and other factors. Met coal has fetched $250 a ton at times, while spot prices for coal for electric utilities have tripled in Appalachia and the Illinois Basin.

Still, signs that Massey Energy Co., Arch Coal Inc., Alpha Natural Resources and other top U.S. producers were chafing under the oversight began about a year ago, just as MSHA was drawing renewed criticism from Congress and organized labor over enforcement. Critics blasted the agency for failing to perform mandatory inspections at underground coal mines despite high- profile fatal accidents, including the Sago Mine explosion in 2006 that killed 12 and the Crandall Canyon mine collapse and rescue attempt that killed nine.

"Some of these citations or violations are extremely petty and probably in no way contribute to safer conditions," said National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich.

MSHA Director Richard Stickler dismisses the notion that stricter enforcement isn't improving safety.

"Certainly when you find an unsafe condition and you require the operator to correct that condition, that has to be making the mine safer," Stickler said. "We're making more inspections, we're writing more violations, and we're assessing higher penalties.

"That's our job. One of the tools we have is enforcement."

MSHA's own statistics show the agency began upping the pressure beginning in 2007.

Citations and orders issued for various infractions jumped 2 percent to 78,687 between fiscal 2006 and 2007. Through the first 10 months of fiscal 2008, MSHA says citations and orders were up 7.7 percent to 84,744.

Fines doubled to $40.4 million from fiscal 2006 to 2007 before this year's big increase.

Stickler said the agency was able to hire 170 inspectors and also cited federal legislation allowing increased fines across the board for better regulation.