First Major Update of 125-year-old Bituminous Mine Safety Law
CARMICHAELS, Pa., July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G.
Rendell today signed the first major update of Pennsylvania's 125-year-old
bituminous deep mine safety law, ensuring better protection for the
commonwealth's 4,200 underground bituminous coal miners.
The new law incorporates recommendations to improve safety conditions
that were made following the 2002 Quecreek accident in Somerset County. It
also allows Pennsylvania mines to be competitive in the national and
international markets while holding mine operators responsible for the
safety of their mines, and it creates a process to update mine safety
regulations in the future.
"Our miners and their families face the dangers of working underground
every day to provide us with the energy we need to carry on our way of
life," said Governor Rendell. "We owe it to them to provide a safe
workplace.
"This industry and its dedicated workers have been a cornerstone of our
economy for more than 200 years. Thanks to the hard work of the legislature
and representatives of labor and industry, we have enacted one of the
nation's strongest mine safety laws, which completes the work begun
following the Quecreek Mine accident."
Pennsylvania began regulating mine safety in 1869. The bituminous mine
safety law was first written in 1883, but it had not been updated since
1961.
Most significantly, the new law creates a seven-member Board of Coal
Mine Safety that will be chaired by the secretary of the Department of
Environmental Protection, with equal representation among mine owners and
mine workers. The board will have the authority to write new mine safety
regulations -- something the department is unable to do through existing
statute.
In addition, the new law will:
-- Make the mine owner or operator primarily responsible for safety
compliance at the mine and allow DEP to assess fines and penalties for
noncompliance. Currently, only individually certified employees or
supervisors, such as foremen, can be held responsible for an accident, not
the mine company or its executives.
-- Increase to 500 feet from 200 feet the distance from which a
bituminous underground operator must conduct advanced drilling when
approaching an adjacent mine that may contain water or gas to provide an
extra measure of security so miners don't accidentally breech an abandoned
mine pool, as happened at Quecreek.
-- Authorize the department to use emergency contracting provisions to
pay for mine rescue and other mine safety activities.
"Mining can be a dangerous profession and we need to be able to protect
against the realities of 21st century mining if we're to keep our miners
safe," said Governor Rendell. "Our old mine safety law contained out-dated
language that had little to do with modern coal mining, including
references to animals and stables in mines. This bill makes substantial
improvements to ensure that owners and operators are responsible for the
safety of their mines and allows us to adapt quickly to changing mining
methods and technologies."
Updating Pennsylvania's underground mine safety program has been a
priority since 2002 when nine miners at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset
County were trapped underground after they breached a flooded and abandoned
mine that was not shown on mining maps. All nine miners survived following
a dramatic rescue.
The measures in this bill supplement administrative changes made by
DEP's Bureau of Mine Safety since the Quecreek accident, including:
-- Giving mine safety officials the authority to review every mine
permit application and reject applications if they think unsafe conditions
may exist.
-- Implementing stringent new requirements to validate and verify
underground mine maps before new mining can take place.
-- Increasing the distance between planned mining and abandoned mines
from 200 feet to 500 feet -- to provide an extra measure of security so
miners don't accidentally breech an abandoned mine pool containing millions
of gallons of water, as happened at Quecreek.
-- Replacing outdated equipment that was more than 30 years old with 84
new, self-contained breathing units, at a cost of $745,000, for underground
mine rescue teams. These new units are housed at mine rescue stations in
Uniontown, Fayette County; Ebensburg, Cambria County; and Tremont,
Schuylkill County.
-- Developing and implementing training for dealing with mine
inundation, as well as continuing education programs for mining
professionals, mine managers, and mine inspectors on mine safety issues.
-- Increasing salaries for engineers, inspectors and training staff in
order to be more competitive when recruiting and maintaining quality safety
professionals.
In October, Governor Rendell signed the Mine Families First Act into
law to ensure that families of miners involved in underground emergencies
are treated with dignity and respect while they await information on their
loved ones. The act establishes a plan for notifying families about the
status of their relatives and the progress of rescue operations; provides
for transportation to and from a place for family members to gather;
institutes security measures to ensure privacy; and provides counseling
through social service organizations.
Pennsylvania is the fourth largest coal producing state, following
Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky, with 35 underground bituminous mines
reporting production in 2007, including four of the six highest-producing
underground mines in the nation. More than 20,000 bituminous coal miners
have died in accidents since the commonwealth began keeping records in
1877.
With Governor Rendell's signature on the new mine safety legislation,
the Department of Environmental Protection has followed through on every
recommendation made by the Governor's Commission on Mine Safety, DEP's
Bureau of Mine Safety, the state Attorney General's Office, the U.S.
Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration in
the wake of the Quecreek accident.
For more information on underground mine safety, visit
http://www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Mine Safety.
The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public
education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing
economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out
more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly
newsletter, visit http://www.governor.state.pa.us.
CONTACT:
Chuck Ardo
717-783-1116
Tom Rathbun (DEP)
717-787-1323
SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor
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Related links:
http://www.depweb.state.pa.us
http://www.governor.state.pa.us
CONTACT:
Chuck Ardo of the Pennsylvania Governor's
Office, +1-717-783-1116; or Tom Rathbun of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection, +1-717-787-1323
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