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11 mines lack emergency plans, panel says

By James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com

WASHINGTON — Eleven Kentucky coal mines have been cited by federal safety regulators for failing to submit plans for handling emergencies by the June 15 deadline, according to a congressional panel.

One of the mines cited had an accident that killed a miner on June 9.

The emergency response plans are required under a mine safety law signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006.

Under the law, mine operators were required to develop plans for handling accidents, including setting up a wireless communication system to track or talk to miners trapped underground.

The House Education and Labor Committee obtained from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration a list of mines cited for failing to meet the deadline to submit plans.

In all, 13 mines were cited — 11 of them in Kentucky, according to the panel.

The Kentucky mines were Clark Mining Inc.'s Mine # 1 in Letcher County; Cane Branch Coal LLC's # 1 in Pike County; LA Energy LLC's # 3 in Floyd County; TRC Mining Co.'s # 2 in Letcher County; C & D Mining Inc.'s # 1 in Floyd County; Double C Enterprises Inc.'s # 8 in Magoffin County; Murriell Don Coal Co. Inc.'s # 6 in Floyd County; Coal Diggers Inc.'s No. 1 in Floyd County; D & C Mining Corp. in Harlan County; Jadco Enterprises Inc.'s Butcher Branch in Bell County; and Patriot Products Group Inc. in Bell County.

D & C Mining was the site of the nation's first underground coal mining fatality this year. Wilson R. Meade, 58, a miner with 40 years' experience, was crushed against conveyor equipment after he was struck by a trailer loaded with concrete blocks, according news accounts.

No one answered the phone Friday at the company's office in Cranks, Ky.

MSHA did not comment Friday on the citations or provide details about possible penalties.

Aaron Albright, spokesman for the House committee, whose chairman is Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said mine operators have had almost three years to comply with the law's requirements for emergency response plans.

Those mines that did not meet the deadline were "potentially putting scores of miners at needless risk," Albright said.

Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said smaller mines are having trouble meeting the regulatory deadlines of the federal law.

"There have been more regulations that have been so costly placed on the underground industry — we're going to see the demise of a lot of small guys," Caylor said.

Small operators do not have the expertise or the financial resources to develop emergency response plans that include wireless communications systems, refuge chambers where miners can escape toxic fumes and other requirements, he said.

Kentucky has about 280 underground mines and roughly the same number of surface mines, Caylor said.

Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.