Washington – Senators announced a legislative deal Tuesday that they said would make coal mining safer, including requiring more oxygen to be stored underground, in reaction to the Sago mine disaster that killed 12 miners in West Virginia in January.
The Senate committee that oversees mine safety issues is expected to consider the bill today. The measure would require miners to have at least two hours of oxygen available instead of one as under the current policy. It also would require mine operators to store extra oxygen packs along escape routes.
The proposal would require that any emergency air supplies stashed in mines be monitored for reliability.
Randal McCloy Jr., the only miner who survived at Sago, has said that at least four of the miners’ air packs did not work, forcing the men to share.
One man was killed in the blast and 11 others died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The air packs are among the most widely used emergency devices in mines, but they have a history of problems such as deteriorating air hoses and excessive carbon dioxide emissions, according to a review of federal Mine Safety and Health Administration records.
The mine agency recently issued a temporary safety rule requiring coal operators to give miners extra oxygen supplies, but miners and their advocates have been pressing Congress for a permanent fix.
Dennis O’Dell, the top safety expert at the United Mine Workers of America, said of the proposed changes: “I think we should have done that way before now, but I’m happy to see that we’re moving forward with that.”
The bill also would require mines to have two-way wireless communications and tracking systems in place within three years.
O’Dell said the 3-year period is too long, but the provision won praise from the National Mining Association, the industry trade group.
The measure also would increase fines against mine operators who don’t comply with safety rules and raise the maximum civil penalty from $60,000 to $220,000.
