Miners Safer Since Cave-in?
By Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake Tribune
Jul. 22–Nearly a year after the collapse of the Crandall Canyon coal mine killed nine men, the top federal mine safety official said Monday that steps have been taken that "absolutely" make working in Utah’s mines safer.
Acting Assistant Labor Secretary Richard Stickler said that, since the Crandall Canyon disaster, the agency has implemented a more rigorous safety screening process for proposals to work in deep mines like those in Utah.
That includes requiring a thorough review by the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s technical experts of proposals to extract coal in mines that are more than 1,000 feet deep and those that don’t meet minimum stability factors in computer modeling.
"There’s no doubt that any time you add another level of review, there are chances you’ll catch things that somebody else didn’t catch," said Stickler, following his speech at an international mine safety symposium in Salt Lake City.
About 15 mine plans have been reviewed since the change was implemented.
The deep mines like those in Utah are prone to "bumps" or "bounces" — where the intense pressure bearing down on the underground tunnels can cause coal to explode from the pillars and walls supporting the roof.
A massive bounce on Aug. 6, 2007, entombed six miners — Manuel Sanchez, Brandon Phillips, Jose Luis Hernandez, Don Erickson, Carlos Payan and Kerry Allred. A subsequent bounce killed three would-be rescuers — Brandon Kimber, Dale Black and Gary Jensen.
At Crandall Canyon, mining was being done at about 1,800 feet below the surface, and the mine design did not meet recommended stability ratings in computer modeling.
After a nearly yearlong investigation, MSHA will release its report on the accident Thursday afternoon after a private briefing with the families of the victims in Price that morning.
"One of the things I can promise you is we will take what we’ve learned from this report . . . and do everything we can to prevent a similar accident from occurring again in the future," Stickler said.
MSHA is also taking a closer look at mines using a process known as retreat mining, where the thick coal pillars supporting the roof are cut away, causing the roof to fall in. The Crandall Canyon miners were using the process to extract coal on Aug. 6.
Stickler said that each month the agency now has inspectors in every mine section using retreat mining to ensure the mining plan has adequate safety measures and is being followed.
The government’s technical experts also visited 17 of the most bump-prone mines to decide if additional precautions were warranted, and the agency has created a detailed checklist with specific criteria that must be reviewed at every step of the mine plan approval.
"We can do more. We can always do more and we’re still working on addressing additional areas," Stickler said.
Former Assistant Secretary J. Davitt McAteer, who organized the symposium, said the steps MSHA has taken since Crandall needed to be done, and more may be necessary.
"As we’re understanding the difficulty that we’re facing with these deep mines, then we’re going to have to have a higher standard that mine operators are going to have to meet," he said.
gehrke@sltrib.com
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