Four years after an explosion at Sago Mine trapped and killed 12 West Virginia miners, fewer than one in 10 mines have beefed up the communications systems that could help miners escape a similar accident, The Charleston Gazette reports.
After the disaster, Congress ordered 415 mines to install better communications and tracking systems. But fewer than 8 percent of those mines have added that equipment. A Mine Safety Health Administration spokeswoman blamed the low number of installations on a limited number of manufacturers, delivery delays and “bugs” in some systems, The Gazette reports.
But MSHA itself may be partly responsible for the delays:
The federal MINER Act tried to set a hard deadline of June 2009 for mine operators to have emergency response plans that included wireless communications and tracking systems. But, the law also gave mine operators a loophole, allowing “alternative means of compliance” if companies argue they can’t meet the MINER Act standards.
[Bruce] Watzman, the National Mining Association lobbyist, said lawmakers and the public had unrealistic expectations for communications and tracking equipment. Gear that would work in the harsh environment of underground mines had not yet been developed, and required years of testing, Watzman said.
But, Watzman said, mining operators and equipment vendors were hampered when MSHA took too long to provide concrete guidance for complying with the MINER Act and, even then, gave the industry conflicting information. And, he said, there have been delays in getting new equipment certified by MSHA for use in underground mines.
In April 2008, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report agreed that MSHA’s guidance had caused delays.
In January 2009, MSHA allowed mining companies to avoid the MINER Act requirement when it concluded that “fully wireless communications technology is not sufficiently developed at this time,” The Gazette reports.
