A year after 12 miners were killed in West Virginia’s Sago mine explosion, underground safe rooms are still nonexistent in the nation’s 606 coal mines. There is still no way to communicate with miners trapped underground. And two-hour fresh air packs are on back order.
These safety steps are required under a new law that should be implemented as soon as possible by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Congress also should ride herd on MSHA and its new director to better enforce safety violations. More must be done to protect coal miners from another tragedy.
In all, 47 coal mine fatalities in the U.S. in 2006 made for the deadliest year since 1995. Colorado’s 15 active coal mines had a solid record, with no fatalities among the 2,100 or so miners. The last fatality in Colorado occurred in December 2000 at Oxbow Mining’s Sanborn Creek Mine.
In the aftermath of the Sago fatalities, Congress and state legislatures rushed to pass critical new safety laws. In June, President Bush signed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, the broadest federal legislation in nearly three decades. Many provisions don’t take effect until 2009. Still, every effort should be made to implement them as soon as possible.
The new laws require miners to have a two-hour supply of air with them, double the old one-hour standard. Mines are also required to store extra air packs underground. Other changes mandate better safety training, more rescue teams and the installation of high-tech communications, tracking devices and emergency shelters to help trapped miners survive.
Mine owners argue that change can’t be made overnight, but it’s essential that safety be the top priority in the mines, especially now that energy prices are putting pressure on the coal industry to increase production.
In some cases, industry appears to be stalling. West Virginia set an August deadline for coal companies to submit plans for high-tech wireless communications. The deadline came and went with no plans submitted. In the case of the fresh air packs, mine operators met the requirement by ordering more of the devices, though they have yet to be delivered. Manufacturers that dominate the market are backlogged at least a year.
The mine safety agency is headed by Richard Stickler, twice rejected by the Senate before Bush made him a recess appointment last October. Stickler is former head of mine safety in Pennsylvania and has a reputation for siding with mine operators. MSHA has fallen behind on its safety duties. Stickler can, and should, change that.
