Rendell signs update to 125-year-old deep mine safety law
MONONGAHELA TWP. – Coal miners, local legislators and county officials joined Gov. Edward Rendell at the memorial to one of the worst mine accidents in state history Monday for the signing of the first major update of the state’s 125-year-old deep mine safety law. MONONGAHELA TWP. – Coal miners, local legislators and county officials joined Gov. Edward Rendell at the memorial to one of the worst mine accidents in state history Monday for the signing of the first major update of the state’s 125-year-old deep mine safety law.
Rendell signed Senate Bill 949 into law with Sen. Rich Kasunic, D-Dunbar, who sponsored the legislation, proudly standing by at the Robena Miners Memorial on Route 21 in Greene County.
The new law revises the Bituminous Coal Mine Act, which was written in 1883 and had not been updated since 1961.
Its primary provision creates a seven-member Coal Mine Safety Board that will have the authority to write new mine safety regulations, which would not require approval from the legislature or the governor.
“We have the best law that there is in the land,” Kasunic said.
He said his late father worked in Robena, but was not in the same shaft where an accident claimed the lives of 37 miners on Dec. 7, 1962.
The United Mine Workers of America holds an annual service at the Robena memorial in honor of the miners who died in the explosion in the Frosty Run shaft.
A mining accident that resulted in the miraculous rescue of nine trapped miners in the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County in July 2002 resulted in recommendations to improve safety that were added into the new law.
Mine operators must now conduct advanced drilling when they are within 500 feet of an adjacent that might contain water or gas to help prevent miners from accidentally breaching an abandoned mine pool, said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty.
The old law required advanced drilling 200 feet from adjacent mines.
Miners at Quecreek were trapped for days by water that flooded the mine after they accidentally breeched an adjacent, abandoned mine.
Rendell said the state tries to provide the best protection possible for police and firefighters, and should do the same for miners.
“We have the same responsibility to miners,” Rendell said.
Coal is an important source of energy in the country and Pennsylvania is the fourth largest coal producing state, Rendell said.
The state produces 170 million tons of coal a year and 60 percent of it comes from Greene County, he said.
Rendell said improving mine safety has been his goal since he was elected five and half years ago and it took too long to finalize the new law.
However, he credited Kasunic, House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, mining companies and the UMWA for reaching an agreement on the provisions in the law.
“It was tough for them to give a little, but they did,” Rendell said about mining companies.
DeWeese the law was the result of a “five-hour marathon” negotiating session held in Rendell’s office a week and a half ago.
He said the session was a “preeminent example” of government leadership.
“The UMWA is pleased that an agreement was reached between all parties that allowed this legislation to finally move through the legislature and get to the governor’s desk,” UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts said in a statement. “But passing new legislation and setting up new oversight won’t mean anything if this law is not enforced and enforced vigorously.”
More than 6,000 miners work in the state, according to the UMWA.
In addition to creating the Coal Mine Safety Board, the new law makes mine owners or operators primarily responsible for safety compliance and allows the DEP to assess fines and penalties for noncompliance. Currently, only certified employees or supervisors, such as foremen, can be held responsible for an accident.
The law supplements administrative changes made by the DEP Bureau of Mine Safety since the Quecreek accident, such as:
Giving mine safety officials the authority to review every mine permit application and reject applications if unsafe conditions exist.
Implementing requirements to validate and verify underground mine maps before new mining can begin.
Replacing 30-year-old equipment with 84 new self-contained breathing units at a cost of $745,000 for underground mine rescue teams. The new units will be housed at rescue stations in Uniontown, Ebensburg in Cambria County and Tremont in Schuylkill Count