The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Today's Front Page

January 31, 2012

Tomblin’s coal mine safety bill introduced

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Tipping off an underground crew of an inspector’s arrival on coal mine property becomes a felony with a prison term of up to five years in Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s proposed comprehensive safety bill.

Offered Monday, the 54-page document also calls for pre-employment drug screens and demands quarterly checks of self-rescuers.

Tomblin made mine safety a major item in his State of the State address this month, citing the April 5, 2010, tragedy at a Raleigh County coal mine.

Twenty-nine miners perished in a massive explosion that shook the sprawling Upper Big Branch mine that day.

In the aftermath, the first criminal trial emanating from the worst mine accident in four decades centered on advance notice provided to inspectors. That was in federal court in Beckley, where the trial ended in the conviction of a former security chief.

Under the Tomblin proposal, anyone who gives advance notice of an inspector’s visit, or conspires to provide one, could be fined up to $15,000, or imprisoned for one to five years, or both.

“We have diligently worked to determine the causes of the Upper Big Branch disaster to make sure a disaster like that never happens again,” Tomblin had told lawmakers in his Jan. 11 remarks.

- - -

If there is “reasonable cause” to suspect substance abuse figures in a miner’s impairment, an inspector must require the operator to test that individual.

Such testing also becomes mandatory if impairment has contributed to an injury or death at a mine.

Anyone failing to pass muster, or refusing to undergo the drug screen, would be suspended immediately, pending a hearing before an appeals board.

Late last year, a veteran mine foreman told The Register-Herald in an interview that drug abuse was common within the industry, and that upward of 70 percent of young people applying for mine jobs cannot pass a drug test.

Anyone seeking a job must be tested for amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine, benzodiazepines, propoxyphene, methadone, barbiturates and synthetic narcotics.

“No workplace can tolerate a person impaired by drugs, particularly in our mines,” Tomblin said in the State of the State, advising the Legislature he planned to install the same type of drug-testing programs in force in Kentucky and Virginia.

- - -

Any time workers are asked to enter a portion of a mine not covered in the pre-shift check, a supplemental inspection must be made.

In such inspection, a fire boss or other certified person must make sure air is moving in the proper direction and test the oxygen for deficiency and methane.

Another portion of the Tomblin bill calls for increasing the incombustible content of mine dust from 65 percent to 80 percent.

In its exhaustive investigation of the Upper Big Branch explosion, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said a massive buildup of mine dust was triggered by a small blast of methane gas. MSHA said the disaster at the mine, owned by the former Massey Energy, was entirely preventable.

Law requires anyone working underground to wear a self-rescuer and that refresher training courses be held once annually. Tomblin is asking lawmakers to make such updated training mandatory each quarter.

Another section says the operator or foreman must immediately notify local emergency organizations in case of an accident.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

Text Only
Today's Front Page
  • FvilleVigil1 Fayetteville candlelight vigil

    Community members and local chuch leaders gathered Sunday evening for a Memorial Day candlelight vigil at Huse Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Fayetteville.

    May 28, 2012 2 Photos

  • 52nd season for Outdoor Dramas to begin June 12

    Theatre West Virginia’s 52nd season will be “Where Legends Live,” focusing on bringing to life West Virginia’s history and local legends.

    May 28, 2012

  • W.Va. political leaders honor nation’s veterans

    From snow-laden Valley Forge to the battered walls of the Alamo, on the blood-stained beaches of the French coastline, in the frigid mountains of Korea and the steamy jungles of Vietnam, and the blistering sands of Iraq and Afghanistan, there is one constant: American heroism.

    May 28, 2012

  • Bodies believed to be missing family found in woods

    Four bodies recovered from a wooded area in Nicholas County near Carl, off Brushy Meadow Creek Road, Saturday are believed to be a missing family from Rainelle, reported First Sgt. Michael Baylous, public information officer for the West Virginia State Police.

    May 27, 2012

  • founder1 Founder’s Day celebrates city’s history

    Coordinators were pleased with the number of people who attended the fourth annual Founder’s Day at Beckley’s founding father’s estate, now the Wildwood Museum.

    May 27, 2012 2 Photos

  • auction NIE Auction and Flea Market coming Saturday

    With more than 200 items to be auctioned off and more than 100 flea market vendors, no one will have to go home empty-handed at Saturday’s 17th annual Newspapers in Education Auction.

    May 27, 2012 1 Photo

  • wvsom WVSOM holds 35th commencement

    More than 170 freshly minted physicians walked across the stage Saturday morning during the 35th annual commencement ceremony at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

    May 27, 2012 1 Photo

  • Beckley’s Founder’s Day a success

    Coordinators were pleased with the number of people who attended the fourth annual Founder’s Day at Beckley’s founding father’s estate, now the Wildwood Museum.

    May 26, 2012

  • WVSOM has 35th annual commencement ceremony

    More than 170 freshly minted physicians walked across the stage Saturday morning during the 35th annual commencement ceremony at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

    May 26, 2012

  • school A fun day at school

    Students who participated in a school fundraiser at Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School sprayed their principal Becky Smith during a hot Friday. Smith was decked out in flippers, goggles and floaties during the fun. Smith paraded past students as they drenched her with water guns.

    May 26, 2012 1 Photo