"MSHA was not notified about this bump or the magnitude of the bump when it occurred," Stickler said. "The accident investigation team will determine whether the incident was required to be reported to MSHA as part of its work."

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said it is time to "crack some heads" at MSHA.

"What ... does it take to shake up that agency?" he said. "What ... is the problem at MSHA?"

Specter said it appears that MSHA "was not paying adequate attention" to the bumps, an omission that showed the agency's "blatant failure" to keep the mine safe.

"You know there is going to be another one," Specter said, adding that bumps can be a sign that something "disastrous" will happen.

Stickler said seismic activity does not necessarily signal another bump, and a silent period with no seismic activity does not mean a bump will not occur again.

Harkin said he couldn't understand why MSHA had trusted Agapito's second evaluation of retreat mining at Crandall Canyon, when the company was not right in its first assessment of the safety of retreat mining there.

Stickler said computer modeling, underground investigations and reviews of the mine had been done on Crandall, and mining had successfully taken place in other mines with similar conditions.

But J. Davitt McAteer, a former MSHA head who is now a vice president at Wheeling Jesuit University, said MSHA should have never approved the mining plan.

"The mine plan was either grossly insufficient and led to the disaster, or it was adequate, but the mine operator failed to follow it as written," McAteer said. "In either case, we need to ensure that mining plans include a sufficient margin of safety, so that if minor deviations from the plan are made in the course of mining, a catastrophic event doesn't result."

Cecil Roberts, international president of the United Mine Workers of America, said there had been "warning signs" that mining in the area where the accident took place was dangerous, and the accident was preventable.

"This mining plan, (A) should not have been submitted and (B) should not have been approved," Roberts said. "This is the most dangerous type of mining there is."

Roberts also criticized MSHA for surrendering its role as "chief communicator" during the accident, as required under mining reforms passed by Congress last year. Roberts said MSHA allowed Murray to dominate the information disseminated to the general public.

"This is especially troubling because much of the information Murray gave over national television and other media was wrong," the union said in a statement.

Stickler said MSHA did provide briefings, family support and regular updates, as information became available. "The agency never failed to be the primary communicator," he said.

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