Monday, April 14, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.
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Prompted by several tragic accidents at underground coal mines, Congress in 2006 passed the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act, which required mine operators to develop better emergency response plans and safeguards.
The requirements included providing air supplies to trapped miners and installation of wireless technology or comparable alternatives that would allow workers aboveground to communicate with those below. The requirements are to be met by June 2009.
But a report released last week by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, says it is doubtful that these crucial requirements will be met.
Among the problems, GAO auditors say, is that no wireless technology is capable of fully accessing all underground areas of a mine.
Communication alternatives exist, the GAO says, but Mine Safety and Health Administration officials told GAO investigators that the agency “has no immediate plans to issue guidance detailing what technology would be acceptable in meeting the June 2009 requirement.” MSHA officials told auditors they wanted to see what new technologies have been developed by the deadline.
What’s more, the MSHA has hampered mine operators’ installation of air delivery systems by not delivering the guidance needed until six months after the mines’ initial plans for offering emergency air supplies were due. And some of the mines’ plans still do not adequately specify what protections are to be included. In some cases, it remains unclear what areas of a mine will provide air supplies and refuge for workers trapped in a collapse, the GAO says.
GAO auditors also said the MSHA has failed to provide sufficient oversight to make sure that mines’ emergency response plans are adequate or need corrective measures. This lack of urgency on the part of the MSHA should not be tolerated. How many more cave-ins, deaths and injuries is it going to take before those who are charged with protecting the nation’s underground miners take the job seriously?
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