West Virginia Governor proposes coal mine safety measures
06 February 2012
West Virginia would require coal operators to further reduce methane gas and coal dust levels in mines as part of the mine safety bill being introduced to state legislators by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.
Tomblin's proposals would introduce mandatory drug testing for miners, ensure that would-be whistleblowers can contact state officials anonymously, and instigate reviews of available training for miners and inspectors.
Several of the provisions respond to the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County. In the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades, 29 miners died after explosive methane gas and coal dust built up in the underground mine.
Then-Governor Joe Manchin commissioned J. Davitt McAteer to investigate Upper Big Branch. The head of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Clinton administration, McAteer said he's been asked to review both Tomblin's bill and a mine safety proposal introduced earlier this session by House Speaker Richard Thompson and others.
McAteer is scheduled to discuss both bills during a Feb. 7 meeting of the House Judiciary Committee.
His investigative report faulted Upper Big Branch's then-owner, Massey Energy Co., for allowing the conditions that led to the blast. Besides the deadly methane and coal dust buildup, worn and broken cutting equipment created the spark that ignited the fuel. Broken and clogged water sprayers failed to stop a mere flare-up from becoming an inferno that ripped through miles of underground tunnels and killed the 29 men instantly.
Later reports from MSHA and the United Mine Workers union reach the same conclusions. McAteer said the concept of supervisory accountability, recently adopted in neighboring Pennsylvania, holds responsible "the people who make the decisions about how the mine is to be operated, and how much money is to be spent on safety and how much money is to be spent on production," McAteer said.
While he said he continues to review Tomblin's bill, McAteer praised its provision increasing the amount of inert rock dust that must be scattered in mines to dampen the explosive potential of coal dust.
Tomblin's bill would also require special methane monitors on longwall mining machines that would cut power to a coal-cutting tool if the amount of that gas reaches a certain level.
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