New monitors will look for shifts in pressure on the shields, and newly-placed cameras will allow a worker to monitor conditions in the work area.

A control panel and operator are also being moved from the working area to a distance of 240 feet toward the mine entrance.

Stricklin said the previous MSHA-approved roof-control plan at Tower was not out of step with other mines and that any new operating requirements for other mines would follow an evaluation period at Tower. "The new plan is ahead of the curve," Stricklin said.

Murray Energy vice president Rob Murray said the company, overall, is very satisfied with the new roof control plan and agrees with Stricklin's characterization that its safety elements "are indeed ahead of the curve."

"We hope to have the longwall automation completed and the Tower Mine operational in early January 2008, at which time we will call back our laid-off employees," Murray said.

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