The American Coal Company Sues Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for Unlawful Regulation

The American Coal Company (American Coal) filed suit against the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for numerous violations of federal law and MSHA’s own regulations in inspections at the company’s Galatia Mining Complex, a complex of three separate mines in Saline County, Illinois. The suit, filed in the Southern District Court of Illinois, follows a series of complaints by the... 

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Congress wants U.S. coal industry destroyed: exec

A senior coal company executive on Wednesday lambasted U.S. lawmakers for proposing caps on emissions blamed for global warming, saying the Democrats were out to destroy America’s coal industry. Robert Murray, chairman, president and chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., also blasted the federal government’s mine safety agency for “outrageous” new fines that he warned could... 

Annual Mining Symposium Coming to WJU

Following a year highlighted by the passage of landmark mine-safety legislation at both the state and federal levels, and 16 months removed from two catastrophic accidents that killed 14 West Virginia miners, the International Mining Health and Safety Symposium returns to the Ohio Valley later this month to build on the progress and momentum of initiatives designed to improve safety in the mining industry. Hosted... 

Federal Mine Safety Agency Increases Fines for Safety Violations

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said this week it has finalized a rule that increases fines for all safety violations. “MSHA has structured the final rule so that higher penalties will induce operators to prevent and correct violations and be more proactive in their overall approach to miner safety and health, as well as target the most serious safety and health violations with... 

Mine safety administrator defends implementation of mine law

WASHINGTON – More than a year after the Sago mine explosion that killed 12 miners, protections for miners who get trapped underground have not yet been implemented, the United Mine Workers president said Wednesday. UMW President Cecil Roberts testified during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in which senators questioned Richard Stickler, head of the nation’s mine safety agency,... 

Coal Mines Ordered to Increase Air for Emergency Use

Underground coal mines must provide up to four days of breathable air to keep miners alive in emergencies such as an explosion or a tunnel collapse, federal regulators announced Thursday. A law enacted last year after a string of deadly accidents, including the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine in January 2006, required mine operators to provide enough air to keep miners alive in an emergency but... 

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W.Va. proposes mine lightning protection

A state agency recommended Thursday that coal mine operators take steps to curtail lightning damage, a year after 12 miners died because of an explosion believed to have been triggered by a storm. The recommendations are the first public proposal for lightning protection by the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training since it determined that a powerful electrical storm caused the... 

Chronology of mine safety legislation

_Jan. 2 Sago Mine explosion results in 12 deaths _Jan. 9 West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin appoints former federal Mine Safety and Health Administration director J. Davitt McAteer to conduct special Sago investigation. New Mexico conducts unscheduled inspection of its only underground mine on orders by Gov. Bill Richardson. _Jan. 19 Two miners die in fire at Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County. _Jan.... 

12 months after Sago mine explosion, coal industry still changing

Many of the safety measures state legislatures and Congress rushed to adopt to protect the 46,000 people working in the nation’s underground coal mines after the Jan. 2. Sago Mine explosion have yet to take effect. There are still no rescue chambers or wireless tracking and communications equipment in the country’s 606 underground coal mines, and it’s unlikely there will be until... 

Coal Mining Industry Looks to Strengthen Underground Seals That Don’t Meet Federal Standards

The coal mining industry has high hopes for a new material that may harden underground seals that don’t meet federal strength standards. Regulators say as many as 13,000 foam block seals in mines across the country don’t meet the new strength requirement the Mine Safety and Health Administration set in July. MSHA upped the strength requirement after methane gas explosions behind seals killed...