From Deseret News archives:
Governor ponders Utah role on mine safety
Huntsman told the Deseret Morning News that as soon as the rescue efforts are completed, he'll put together a state panel to conduct an investigation into the disaster to determine if Utah should be regulating mine safety.
"We're going to want to see if there is reason for us to reconsider how this is done," Huntsman said. He said the state gave up its authority over mine safety to the federal government some 30 years ago.
But Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, a longtime consultant to the mining industry, cautioned that having two government entities overseeing safety could do more harm than good.
"It may hurt the industry," Dmitrich said of imposing state mine safety regulations. "They may overreact on something that shouldn't be there. You can't have dual roles. You can't have two bosses looking over your shoulder."
Dmitrich, though, supported Huntsman's call for a state investigation into the disaster. Huntsman said he will ask Dmitrich and other lawmakers with mining expertise to serve on the state panel.
"The governor's doing the right thing. If something was approved in that mine plan that shouldn't have been, that should be brought out. And if it wasn't, they should be cleared," Dmitrich said. "I just hope we don't overreact."
Huntsman said he is talking to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin about that state's response to last year's Sago Mine disaster. Twelve coal miners died in an explosion, a tragedy made worse when rescuers mistakenly said the trapped men were still alive.
"We want to look at what West Virginia did after Sago," Huntsman said. "There's no sense in reinventing the wheel."
West Virginia already had mine safety regulations in place at the time of the January 2006 Sago deaths but moved quickly to set new standards, according to Joe Ward, deputy general counsel to West Virginia's governor.
Just weeks after the Sago disaster, West Virginia lawmakers passed legislation intended to improve the chances of survival for miners trapped underground. The state law requires wireless devices to be worn by miners and mines to be equipped with extra oxygen supply tanks.
West Virginia also established a 24-hour hotline for mine operators to report accidents to help better coordinate emergency response crews. Mine operators face steep fines if accidents aren't reported within 15 minutes.
