White House reviewing mine safety equipment, procedures

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is reviewing safety equipment used in the nation’s mines after previously scrapping similar initiatives started by the Clinton administration.

The agency that oversees coal mine safety is seeking public input on how to better supply miners and rescuers with equipment such as breathing apparatuses and communications devices, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

In recent years, the Mine Safety and Health Administration pulled Clinton-era initiatives examining safety equipment and mine rescue operations off its regulatory agenda, a semiannual document that outlines what agencies are working on.

Key among the items withdrawn were those dealing with oxygen packs that miners carry and the ability of mine rescue teams to do their jobs.

Such issues will be re-examined, according to the documents, which noted that the Sago Mine accident in West Virginia “underscored the vital role that mine rescue operations play in response to catastrophic mine incidents.”

In withdrawing the items during its first term, the Bush administration cited changing priorities and resource concerns. Miners’ advocates said the action stopped potentially important safety rules from coming about.

“Work was in progress to implement some of these protections,” Joe Main, who recently retired as the top safety expert at the United Mine Workers union, said Saturday.

Main welcomed the new study but said it fell short. He said the agency should impose new emergency rules that could go into effect quickly, and he said Congress ought to pass legislation establishing new safety standards as it did after the 1968 mine explosion in Farmington, W.Va., that killed 78 miners.

“Study all you want,” Main said. “That’s good. That’s healthy, but don’t preclude action with study.”

One of the items withdrawn called for a review of oxygen units miners are required to wear or keep within 25 feet of their work area.

Main said the goal was to eliminate defects and improve inspections of the air packs. The union also wanted extra units stored in mines. The review will examine those issues.

The Jan. 2 explosion at the Sago Mine in Tallmansville, W.Va., led to the deaths of 12 miners. Officials said one victim apparently was killed by the blast itself, and the others were asphyxiated by carbon monoxide.

Officials also said there was evidence most of the miners used their one-hour air packs, yet the ordeal lasted more than 40 hours.

Jeffery Kravitz, a safety specialist at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the federal government hasn’t been ignoring the issue.

Kravitz said the Labor Department agency, along with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has held numerous workshops to identify what technology might be available or developed to provide miners with longer-lasting oxygen packs that are light enough to wear.

Another item the Clinton administration had been reviewing but which was withdrawn during President Bush’s first term involved the deployment of mine rescue teams.

Main said the administration was looking at ways to boost the number of teams available and in proximity to the mines. Mine operators rely on teams that are up to two hours away, which union officials say is too far.