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WASHINGTON, DC -- This morning, members of Congress inspected a six-ton emergency mine shelter that can safely hold up to 35 people for up to 96 hours in case of an underground mine emergency. The inspection of the shelter this morning preceded a House Education and Labor Committee hearing in which witnesses told Congress that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration should act more aggressively to improve mine safety.
“This shelter is not a prototype. It is not a concept design. It is available for sale to mine operators right now. If a shelter like this one had been installed at the Sago mine, then it’s likely that 11 of the 12 miners who died there last year would be alive today,” Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said today after inspecting the shelter, which had been set up on the U.S. Capitol Complex. “The state of West Virginia has required mine operators to install shelters in all underground coal mines. There is no reason why MSHA can’t require the same thing nationwide.”
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has so far refused to require underground coal mines to install emergency shelters. West Virginia now requires all mines in the state to install airtight emergency shelters where trapped miners can wait until rescue.
Forty-seven coal miners died in mining accidents in the U.S. in 2006, the largest number of fatalities since 1995. In response to those tragedies, Congress passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act. Today, witnesses said implementation of important provisions of the MINER Act by MSHA has proceeded too slowly, putting miners' lives at unnecessarily high risk.
Witnesses also testified that MSHA can do more to protect miners by aggressively pursuing and deploying new and proven technologies, including the emergency shelters.
“MSHA could benefit from an injection of the sense of urgency that has taken hold in my state,” said Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, who also participated in the hearing. “Unfortunately, MSHA has not committed itself to any timeline that would mandate the use of refuge chambers.”
One witness said that Congress may have to act if MSHA continues to move slowly. “In a regulatory system that is broken and incapable of rapidly and effectively addressing the many hazards still faced by U.S. miners, direct Congressional intervention…may be justified, and would not be unprecedented,” said J. Davitt McAteer, vice president of Wheeling Jesuit University and former head of MSHA in the Clinton Administration.
Dan Bertoni, the Director of the Education, Workforce, and Income Security Team at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, testified about a new report released today finding that MSHA could do a much better job of oversight of the industry in the areas of training for a disaster, developing new technologies, training of coal mine inspectors, and the assessing of civil fines.
“The events of the last year heightened interest in protecting miners and preparing them for the perils in their workplace,” the GAO report said. “While Congress, federal and state official, mine operators, miners and their representatives have taken important steps to improve safety in mines, more can be done in several areas.”
To see all the testimony from today’s hearing, click here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853
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