| U.S. mines still not safe enough, experts say | |
| One year after Sago Mine accident, safety laws still need improving | |
| BUCKHANNON, W. Va. - One year ago Tuesday, the nation was holding its breath for 13 miners who were trapped deep inside the Sago Mine near Buckhannon, W. Va. | |
| As it turned out, 12 of the 13 miners never made it out alive. | |
| In West Virginia Tuesday, Randal McCloy, the lone survivor of the disaster, joined the families of the 12 men who died — to remember them and the nightmare that began one year ago. | |
| "I'm just sick when I think — every day when I think how those men had to die and it makes me sick," says Debbie Hamner whose husband died in the mine. | |
| Since Sago, both West Virginia and the federal government have passed new mine safety laws. But in the mines themselves, little has changed. | |
| • There's still no better way to communicate with miners below ground; | |
| • Wireless communications won't be required until 2009; | |
| • Electronic tracking systems for miners are still on the drawing board; | |
| • Underground emergency safe rooms are still not required by law; and | |
| • Mines have another year to position more rescue teams. | |
| Davitt McAteer is a mine safety expert who once ran the government's Mine Safety and Health Administration and led West Virginia's Sago Mine investigation. | |
| "We need to have a way to communicate with trapped miners," McAteer says. "We need to protect trapped miners until we can get to them, and we need to have a way that we can provide them with the breathing apparatus and the air system so they can stay alive." | |
| What has changed in mine safety since the Sago tragedy: | |
| • Improved emergency procedures and training is now required; | |
| • There are more federal mine inspectors and tougher fines for safety violations; and | |
| • Mines must now notify the federal government within 15 minutes of an accident. | |
| Still not required, though are underground emergency safe rooms. | |
| The union representing many of the nation's 73,000 coal miners says it's a sign of priorities. | |
| "There's still just an attitude out there that production comes first and safety is a convenient thing and it comes second," says Dennis O'Dell of United Mine Workers of America. | |
| These are boom times for the coal industry, producing a record 1.17 billion tons of coal in 2006, but also the highest death toll in 11 years. | |