Faster, more efficient rescue methods urged

WASHINGTON — Utah's Crandall Canyon mine accident should bring a closer look at rescue effort management the same way the 2006 Sago Mine accident in West Virginia brought changes to how miners are protected underground, said J. Davitt McAteer, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's chief under President Bill Clinton.

Six coal miners have been trapped more than 1,800 feet underground since early Monday. Rescue workers have drilled holes from the surface in an attempt to find the miners using microphones and a camera lowered through the holes.

McAteer, who led West Virginia's investigation into the Sago Mine accident, in which one miner died in an explosion and 11 died after being trapped underground, said Congress took action to protect workers if they got trapped, creating new rules for air and water supplies to keep miners alive. But more needs to be done, he said.

"This accident shows we have another problem," McAteer told the Deseret Morning News. "We are not prepared to get them out in the same amount of time."

McAteer said in the past 20 years of mine accidents, drilling bore holes, as is the case at the Crandall mine, has taken place to try to reached trapped miners. He said there needs to be a better answer for "when does the first drill hit the ground?" and a focus on getting to trapped miners faster.

"It's a knee-jerk reaction" to drill the holes, McAteer said. "There needs to be a plan in place" for getting the appropriate equipment to an accident site vs. "cobbling" something together as time starts to tick away.

"We know that speed is of the essence," McAteer said.

He does not believe MSHA has — or requires mines to have — the most advanced technology for mine rescue equipment, saying that things were dated even when he headed the agency.

The Crandall Canyon accident should also draw attention to seismic pressure within mines. McAteer said the "significant seismic event" associated with the collapse is important for MSHA to consider when evaluating where to allow other mines to operate.

The exact nature of what happened inside the Crandall Canyon mine may not be known for at least a year, McAteer estimated, based on MSHA's investigation into the Sago accident.

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