West Virginia lawmakers pass mine safety legislation

~ The state's governor pressed the state legislature to pass the laws by the end of the day.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- After 14 coal mining deaths in three weeks, West Virginia lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would require mines to use electronic devices to track trapped miners and stockpile oxygen to keep them alive until help arrives.

The W. Va. Senate and House both acted at the urging of Gov. Joe Manchin, who pressed lawmakers to pass the legislation by the end of the day.

"We can't afford to wait any longer," Manchin said after two miners were found dead over the weekend in a mine fire in Melville. Three weeks ago, 12 miners died after an explosion at the Sago Mine.

The Senate passed the bill without debate, 32-0, with two absences. The vote in the House of Delegates was 93-0, with seven absences. Because of slight changes, the bill was sent back to the Senate, where it was again accepted and sent on to Manchin.

John Groves, whose brother Jerry was among the miners who died after the explosion at the Sago Mine, said he believes his brother would have been alive if the measure had been in place earlier.

"To know that everybody's working to get this passed this way is amazing. Government doesn't usually work this way," Groves said. "It's sad to say, but you learn from your mistakes ... and we're going to save lives in the future."

Once the governor signs the bill, coal companies in the nation's No. 2 coal mining state will have to comply by the end of February.

Manchin's legislation would require improved communications and the electronic tracking of coal miners underground, as well as faster emergency response and the storage of additional air supplies underground.

If the 14 miners who died in two accidents since Jan. 2 had been wearing tracking devices, "we could have concentrated all our efforts, all our resources on that one location," Manchin said.

Washington hearing

In Washington, meanwhile, the Senate opened a hearing on mine safety.

"These deaths I believe were entirely preventable," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. "And we owe the families of these deceased and noble and great and brave men a hard look of what happened and why."

Manchin's call for quick action came as the state medical examiner was to release the bodies of Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery "Elvis" Hatfield, 47, to their families.

The two men died last week as a result of a conveyor belt fire at the Aracoma Coal Alma No. 1 mine. Their bodies were found nearly two days after the blaze began to spread thick smoke in the mine.

Their deaths occurred just three weeks after 12 miners died after an explosion at the Sago Mine, about 180 miles away. One of the men was believed to have been killed by the blast itself; the others died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The sole survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., 26, remained hospitalized in a light coma after it took rescuers more than 40 hours to reach him.

In both the Sago Mine disaster and the Melville fire, rescuers were uncertain exactly where the miners were situated inside the mine shaft.

Miners are equipped with portable oxygen canisters that provide breathable air for up to an hour. Manchin wants mining companies to store extra devices throughout the mines. Some companies already provide extra air supplies in their mines.

"No miner will live in fear of ever suffocating in a mine," Manchin vowed Sunday.

Miners would be directed to the storage areas by battery-operated strobe lights in emergencies.

Manchin's proposal also would create a new rapid response system for mine and industrial accidents, and require coal operators to issue emergency communicators and personal tracking devices to all underground miners.

Most mines in the United States still rely heavily on hard-wired communication systems, which can be damaged in explosions and fires. Rescue teams were unable to communicate with the trapped Sago miners because of such damage.

Doug Conaway, director of the state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training, envisions a wireless system that connects miners to the surface through a series of transponders.

The system would provide one-way, low frequency communication to miners, sending text messages to inform them of an emergency and the best evacuation route. It is used in about 40 mines nationwide, Conaway said. Two-way devices are not reliable, he said.

The electronic tracking devices would be similar to a system in use in Australia. It uses transponders in the battery covers on miners' head lamps to transmit a unique identification number. Devices mounted within the mine convey that signal to the surface. The system runs on internal batteries, so a power failure would not interfere with it.

Manchin also proposed to fine coal companies $100,000 if they fail to report an emergency within 15 minutes. At Sago, company officials placed the first calls to state and federal safety officials more than an hour after the explosion. It was not immediately clear when the first calls were placed in the Aracoma fire.

"We're not blaming anybody," the governor said. "We're saying there hasn't been enough emphasis on getting the properly trained men and women and the equipment moving quickly enough."