Feds Hire More than 300 New Coal Mine Safety Inspectors

The federal agency responsible for mine safety has hired more than 300 inspectors in the past two years to scour underground coal operations for unsafe working conditions. The Mine Safety and Health Administration is beefing up its inspections after a series of mining disasters from Utah to West Virginia.

A report last year by the inspector general found that MSHA failed to carry out inspections at 107 of the 731 underground coal mines operating in 2006, or 15 percent of the total.

Forty-seven miners were killed on the job in 2006, one of the deadliest years for miners in more than a decade. Six miners and three attempting rescues also died in 2007 at the Utah Crandall Canyon mine, while 15 mining fatalities nationwide were reported since Jan. 1.

MSHA chief Richard Stickler said the agency has 750 inspectors with the 322 new hires. But, because of resignations and retirements, the new hires represent a net increase of 163 inspectors. Stickler said he also has embarked on a plan to ensure inspectors complete visits to every coal mine, aided by $10 million for overtime pay this year.

“We’re doing everything we can to see that we make all the mandated inspections,” he said.

Mine safety advocate Tony Oppegard, a Lexington, Ky., lawyer, said that without additional inspectors, MSHA had been unable to meet a federal requirement to visit each mine four times annually. “It was an absolute necessity that they add additional inspectors,” he said. “In my view, the best days that coal miners have underground are the days that inspectors are underground.”

Stickler said inspectors have been logging about 35,000 hours of overtime each quarter to conduct inspections and ensure compliance with a sweeping federal safety law enacted in 2006.

The law mandates larger stockpiles of emergency air packs. It also gave MSHA until June to require wireless communications and tracking equipment underground, among other measures. Stickler said technology hasn’t yet developed to the point of providing reliable wireless communication.

The agency also is studying a proposal to require coal operators to install airtight emergency refuges underground. MSHA estimates that this would cost the coal industry between $84.1 million and $102.6 million in the first year.

Regular reports of accidents are raising concerns about safety. A 40-year-old coal miner was reported dead in June after a below-ground accident at the Harmony Mine near Mount Carmel, Pa. Federal and state inspectors have gone to the mine, owned by UAE Coal Corp.