Tougher W.Va. Mine Safety Law Signed

Gov. Joe Manchin signed new mine safety rules into law Thursday, saying the requirements for better communications, underground oxygen supplies and faster emergency responses would help prevent tragedies like the two that killed 14 miners this month.

"We want to be the benchmark everyone looks to when they mine," Manchin said during the signing ceremony, attended by some of the miners' relatives. "The sacrifice you all have made will change mining in this country."

State lawmakers passed the legislation unanimously just days after a Jan. 19 mine fire killed two men, and about three weeks after an explosion at the Sago Mine across the state resulted in the deaths of 12 miners.

The only survivor among the trapped Sago miners, Randal McCloy Jr., 26, emerged from a light coma Wednesday but still cannot speak.

McCloy was able to chew and swallow soft foods, said Dr. Larry Roberts at Ruby Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. McCloy had been in the coma since his Jan. 4 rescue.

Roberts said McCloy continues to show slight neurological improvement each day.

"The family obviously is thrilled with Randy's constant progress," said Aly Goodwin Gregg, the family's spokeswoman. "They remain optimistic about his continued recovery and they recognize how long the recovery process is going to take."

The state's new mine safety law mandates that miners be provided with emergency communicators and tracking devices. It also requires mine operators to store extra air supplies underground, and sets up a new Mine and Industrial Accident Rapid Response System and statewide all-hours hot line to trigger rescue efforts more quickly.

"It eases our hearts and our pain knowing that maybe this will help save other miners some day," said Delorice Bragg, whose husband died in the mine fire last week.

Federal and state investigators were expected to finally get into the Sago Mine late Thursday to start determining what sparked the explosion that led to the 12 deaths, most of them from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The investigation had been held up, first by the dangerous gases and then over a dispute between the United Mine Workers and the mine's owner involving the union's demand to accompany investigators. The company challenged the union's right to enter the non-union mine after the UMW would not disclose the names of the two miners it is representing. A federal judge ruled Thursday that the UMW could participate.

The Sago disaster and Manchin's calls for reform have spurred several coal mining states to re-examine their mine safety laws.

Kentucky legislators started drafting similar legislation to strengthen coal mine safety laws and expect to file them in the House and Senate by early next week.

In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen called for a review of state mining laws to see if changes are needed in that state's nine underground coal mines, saying: "Let's learn from these things, and not wait until they happen to us."

A bill pending in the Virginia General Assembly would require underground mines to have wireless communications available so miners could call for help in an emergency.

The new West Virginia law also addresses communications, requiring companies to install wireless systems to connect miners to the surface through a series of transponders and requiring tracking devices for miners.

Most U.S. mines still rely on hard-wired communication systems. At Sago, rescuers were unable to communicate with the trapped miners because the system was damaged.

Industry officials have raised questions about the reliability of the technology, but they have said they will support the changes.

In addition to better communication, the new law requires extra air supplies are inside mines, and says miners would be directed to them by strobe lights, reflective signs and guide ropes. Some companies already provide extra air supplies, but in most cases, miners only carry canisters that provide up to an hour's worth of oxygen.

The law also threatens coal companies that fail to report an emergency within 15 minutes with $100,000 fines. At Sago, company officials placed the first calls to state and federal safety officials more than an hour after the explosion.

State mine officials must now write the rules necessary to carry out the new law. A deadline for coal companies to comply with its provisions has not yet been announced.

West Virginia's congressional delegation is also pushing for tougher federal mine safety regulations and demanding more aggressive enforcement.