The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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April 7, 2010

Kessler says close mines with consistent risky gas level

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

MONTCOAL — Coal mines with a consistent and risky level of methane gas should be closed immediately until corrective steps are taken, Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler suggested Wednesday.

Kessler expects the Legislature to set up a special panel of inquiry into the Upper Big Branch explosion that left at lest 25 miners dead Monday.

“There are a couple of things — methane gas and coal dust building up,” Kessler, D-Marshall.

“You don’t mess with either one. Both can be a recipe for disaster. Any time you have those kinds of a readings, on a consistent basis, you need to immediately shut it down.”

Kessler hasn’t met with Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, but expects to see a similar legislative commission that was formed in the wake of the Sago explosion that left a dozen workers dead in 2006.

Out of that inquiry came recommendations for improved communications and special survival shelters that allow a trapped miner to survive up to four days.

Performance Coal’s Upper Big Branch, a Massey Energy subsidiary, has been cited numerous times for methane gas violations, but federal authorities have said the process often is bogged down by company appeals.

“We wrestled that one (Sago) out for an entire year and ultimately it came back as a lightning strike,” Kessler recalled. “That’s not the case here.”

Kessler found it “frustrating” that not all coal mines have installed the modern safety measures recommended by the Legislature.

Upper Big Bend did have those measures in place.

“Ultimately (at Sago), we needed more communications and rescue chambers because of the fact folks who perished there unfortunately were alive for a significant amount of time, and died from a lack of oxygen as much as anything,” Kessler said.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk with Tomblin, but I would think we might be looking at something along those (Sago) lines,” the senator said.

”I certainly think we have an obligation to have a fact-finding mission, as well as to determine what went wrong and what potential legislative solutions may be necessary.”

Kessler called for “routine, regular and non-controlled and random inspections,” saying a two-hour delay can occur in getting inspectors into the workplace could provide ample time for cover-up, by the time they report to the guardhouse, get a clearance and get decked out in the proper garb on.

“That has the potential for mischief,” he added.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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