House Passes Mine Safety Bill—a ‘First Step’

by Mike Hall, Jun 8, 2006

New mine safety rules that will require improved emergency oxygen supplies, communications, tracking and other safety improvements won overwhelming support in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday. The House approved a mine safety bill passed by the Senate May 24.

Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts told House members in a letter:

Thirty-three coal miners have lost their lives while attempting to fulfill the energy needs of the country. This is far too high a price for workers in any industry to pay for merely going to work and supporting their families….

What makes these recent mining deaths so disturbing is that many could have been prevented. The United Mine Workers of America is convinced that had additional safety precautions been required by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, many of those miners who perished, may well have survived the initial fire or explosion.

The new mine safety bill now will be sent to President Bush for his signature. Although it enjoys broad support, representatives from both parties agreed this legislation is only a first step. In a letter to House members, the AFL-CIO, which supported the Senate bill, said:

…[P]assage of the Senate bill should only be a first step, and much more needs to be done to offer better protection for miners and their families. For example, Rep. George Miller [D-Calif.] has proposed requiring at least 48 hours of emergency air for miners trapped underground, wireless communication and electronic tracking systems within 15 months and government testing of miners’ individual oxygen supplies. Frankly, we do not understand why anybody would oppose such commonsense measures.

In the Jan. 2 explosion that killed 12 West Virginia miners in International Coal Group’s Sago Mine, the lone survivor said the miners’ emergency oxygen packs failed to work properly. All but one of the miners survived for hours following the blast before succumbing to the mine’s toxic atmosphere. There also have been reports that air packs failed in the May 20 explosion that killed five miners in Harlan County, Ky.

Miller said he will continue to seek improvements in mine safety. The House action, he said, “has got to be the beginning of Congress’ legislative efforts, not the end.”

Roberts said the families of the miners killed played a major part in winning the new mine safety legislation.

Their determination and willingness to come to Washington and get in the faces of members of Congress and demand improvements in mine safety is the real reason this legislation passed so quickly.   

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