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Mine union criticizes rescue rule
CHARLESTON — The United Mine Workers has panned a proposed federal rule designed to improve rescue operations at the nation’s 653 underground coal mines, in part by cutting maximum emergency response times in half.
“The union does not believe the proposed rule should move forward as it is written,” Dennis O’Dell, administrator of Occupational Health and Safety, told a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration panel Tuesday. MSHA either misunderstood or ignored Congress when it crafted the mine rescue rule, said O’Dell, who suggested tabling the proposal and rewriting it after talking with the union, mine operators and lawmakers.
The rule is aimed at complying with a federal law passed last year after an explosion that killed 12 West Virginia miners and five miners in eastern Kentucky.
The proposal would require rescuers to reach underground coal mines within one hour. The current rule is two hours.
Rescue teams also would have to be certified, familiar with a mine’s workings and participate in two local mine rescue contests annually. Members would need at least three years of underground experience and 64 hours of training a year. The current requirement is 40 hours per year.
O’Dell, however, said Congress mandated rescue teams at every underground coal mine, not just two employees from each mine serving on rescue teams as proposed by MSHA.
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