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Senators to Question MSHA About Sago Mine Disaster: Manchin Appoints Former MSHA Head for State Probe

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Evelyn Ryan, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Jan. 10--While a special team for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration investigates the cause of an explosion at the Sago Mine, MSHA officials will be under the spotlight as well. U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., working with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has arranged a Senate hearing starting Jan. 19. State mining officials and other minesafety experts from labor, business and academia will be invited to testify. Specter is chairman of the committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, which has jurisdiction over the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Harkin is the top Democrat on the subcommittee. At the state level, former MSHA head J. Davitt McAteer, longtime coal safety advocate, has agreed to act as a special adviser to Gov. Joe Manchin III during the joint state Office of Mine Health Safety and Training and MSHA investigation into the explosion. The Jan. 2 explosion at the Upshur County mine trapped 13 men underground. Twelve died at the mine. A 13th, Randal McCloy Jr., is in critical condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital. Investigators have yet to enter the mine, located at Tallmansville. Questions have been raised about delays in getting rescue crews into the mine and the effectiveness of safety equipment. "The families of the Sago miners deserve to know what happened in that mine," Byrd said, in announcing the hearing. "Just as importantly, miners and their families across this country want to know that steps are being taken to prevent others from ever experiencing such pain." International Coal Group, owner of the mine, said in a statement that ventilation boreholes have been completed into the second left and first left branches. A third, of a substantially larger size, is being drilled into the sealed area where the explosion was apparently generated. Air samples were pulled late Sunday from the mine through the boreholes, but no test results were available Monday, the statement said. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is circulating a letter among senators from coal states asking the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to hold hearings specifically on the issue of coalmine safety. Congress has conducted no comprehensive oversight hearings of MSHA since 2001, Rockefeller's announcement noted. More than 100 miners have died in workplace accidents during that time, and the agency's staff has struggled to deal with severe budget cuts and a wave of planned retirements, his announcement said. "We need congressional hearings not only so that we can determine what happened at Sago, but, more broadly, about the state of mine safety across West Virginia and across the country," Rockefeller said. "Coal is on the rise in our country, and safety must be too. "We need to know why the administration thinks that it can carry out a policy where it is committing fewer and fewer resources to meet an industry that has more and more needs." He wants the hearings to address funding for MSHA, the number of MSHA inspectors and the shortage of mine-rescue units. In West Virginia, Manchin said Monday that the state and MSHA will hold open public hearings on the accident and its aftermath once the state and federal fact-finding period is complete. "As I've said many times during the past several days, I am committed to doing everything within my power to ensure that there is a thorough investigation into the tragedy that occurred at the Sago Mine," Manchin said. McAteer promised he would have a report, with recommendations on improving mine safety and communications, to the governor by July 1. Byrd said he has tough questions for MSHA in the federal investigation. "Is enforcement of coal-mining regulations tough enough?" he asked. "Are the regulations on the books today current enough to handle the challenges posed by 21st century coal mining? Are mine hazards being minimized? These and other issues demand scrutiny, and the miners' families deserve the answers." Rockefeller said what happened "has been a real wakeup call for people all over America that we need to do more -- much more -- to take care of those people who on a daily basis are risking their lives to bring electricity to our homes, schools and businesses. "For the memory of the 12 brave and courageous men who died at Sago and their families, we must do everything possible to help make sure another Sago never happens again," he said. The Sago mine disaster was the worst coal-mining accident in West Virginia since 1968, when 78 miners were killed in an explosion at the Farmington No. 9 mine in Marion County. Manchin lost family members in that explosion.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

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Source: The Dominion Post (Morgantown, W.Va.)

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