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"As coal mining re-emerges in
Illinois, we need to make sure that the men and women who go
underground every day are safe," Blagojevich said. "I commend
members of the House for doing their part to protect our miners, and
I urge the Senate to follow suit."
2004 and 2005 were fatality-free in Illinois' coal and aggregate
mines, marking the first time in state history that Illinois has
gone two consecutive years without a fatality. The current
statistical year, ending in April, also has been fatality-free.
"I have been working with the Office of Mines and Minerals,
United Mine Workers, and Illinois Coal Association to craft this
legislation," Reitz said. "With these changes, it is my hope that if
there is an accident at one of our mines, we will be prepared to
respond, and our miners will have the tools they need to survive."
"It is imperative that we do everything in our power to ensure
the safety of Illinois miners," said Sen. Deanna Demuzio,
D-Carlinville. "This legislation provides common-sense actions, such
as requiring lifelines in our mines to make sure that miners can
find their way to the surface even if their vision is impaired from
an accident. We should do all that we can to ensure that all of
Illinois' miners return home to their families each night."
"In light of the tragedies that have hit coal mining families in
West Virginia and Kentucky, we need to double our efforts to protect
those who make their living going underground to mine coal," said
Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton. "Updating mine rescue stations like the
ones in Benton and Harrisburg, using transponders to locate trapped
miners, and ensuring there are extra supplies of oxygen available in
case of an emergency will give our miners a better chance at
surviving an accident. These efforts will go a long way in making
sure they leave their job safe and secure at the end of the day."
House Bill 2197 includes:
SCSRs are designed to supply an individual
with one hour of oxygen for use in an emergency situation and
are currently required by federal regulation to be available to
miners. While SCSRs can provide some protection, more than an
hour of travel would be required to reach the surface of many of
Illinois' mines. Therefore, every miner would be required to
wear an SCSR while underground and caches of SCSRs would be
placed throughout the mine for use during a longer escape.
Emergency
communication and tracking system: The new legislation would
require the installation of a wireless communication device
capable of receiving emergency communications from the surface
to any location throughout a mine. Mine operators would be
required to install in or around the mine any and all equipment
necessary to transmit emergency communications. In addition, a
tracking system would provide real-time monitoring of the
physical location of each person underground. Operators would be
required to install the wireless tracking equipment necessary
for such monitoring and to provide every miner with a tracking
device to be worn while underground.
Mine rescue
stations: Illinois currently operates mine rescue stations
in Springfield, Benton, Harrisburg and Sparta. However, only two
of those stations are certified by the Mine Safety and Health
Administration. Additionally, the state has agreements with all
the underground mines to provide personnel to staff the
stations, but there are no stipulations on how many people each
company must provide. The new legislation would mandate
reasonable participation in mine rescue teams by coal companies
and would require certification of all mine rescue stations.
Lifelines and tag
lines: State law already requires that each mine have two
different ways of exiting a mine in the event of an emergency,
each marked with reflectors. However, these reflectors can be
impossible to locate in the event of a fire. To ensure that all
miners can escape quickly, this provision would require
lifelines along the escape routes. The lifelines would be
required to have cones indicating the direction to the surface.
Miners would be able to hold the lifeline and find their way to
the surface, avoiding any disorientation due to impaired
visibility. It would also require tag lines, which miners would
be required to use in the event of an emergency. The tag lines
would connect a group of miners together, preventing individual
miners from becoming lost.
Return entry to
aid in egress: In addition to the two escape routes mandated
by state law, every mine has a third passageway that is used as
a return. The new legislation would require that the return
entry be marked with reflectors or other signage to give a clear
indication of an alternative path to the surface in the event
the mandated escape routes are blocked.
Transportation of
workers: While mine operators must maintain a vehicle
suitable to transport sick or injured workers, transportation is
not mandated in any other circumstance. Therefore, an entire
unit or group of miners could be left without mechanical
transportation for a distance of many miles underground. In most
instances, this distance would far exceed a miner's ability to
walk out of a mine while using an SCSR. In order to remedy this
situation, the governor's proposal mandates that mechanical
transportation be available on each working section of a mine
and that this transportation be of adequate size to transport
all miners working in said section to the surface.
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Independent
contractor supervisor: Illinois mining operations routinely
employ for specialized projects or to assist the regular work
force. Unlike the mining work force, contractors are not
certified by the state and may not have received adequate
training. This legislation would require mine operators to have
at least one certified independent contractor supervisor to
oversee independent contractors or their employees.
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General surface
supervisor: The new legislation would amend the Coal Mining
Act to require that individuals who supervise underground mine
surface facilities, coal preparation plants and independent
contractors engaged in the construction, demolition or
dismantling of facilities obtain competency certification from
Office of Mines and Minerals.
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Methane
extraction: In order to ensure the safety of miners, the
legislation would prohibit methane extraction from sealed areas
of active mines, as well as from abandoned mines that are
attached to active workings.
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Rescue chambers:
The new legislation would require the construction of a
rescue chamber in underground mines to protect miners against
potential hazards in case of an emergency. The chamber is to be
equipped with first-aid materials, an oxygen-generating device
and proper accommodations for people underground awaiting
rescue.
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Telecommunications
center: In order to ensure a quick and efficient means of
disseminating duties and responsibilities to those involved in
mining emergency response, the legislation would permit the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources to use the
telecommunications center maintained by the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency.
"This is another step to ensure that Illinois continues to be a
leader in mines safety," said Joe Angleton, director of the Office
of Mines and Minerals. "I commend Governor Blagojevich for his
continued leadership on this issue and his commitment to helping the
coal industry make a triumphant return in Illinois."
Illinois coal miner safety is the No. 1 priority of the state
Office of Mines and Minerals. State law requires a mine be inspected
once a month; however, state mine inspectors often visit mining
operations with more frequency to ensure compliance. Routine
inspections of coal mines include checking for proper ventilation
and for hazardous conditions underground and on the surface of a
mine, ensuring roof and rib control procedures are being followed,
and making sure miners are working safely and properly.
Three new mines are expected to come on line in Illinois in 2006
-- further evidence that the coal industry is making a comeback in
Illinois. The industry began to decline in the 1990s, after tougher
federal sulfur emission standards were put in place. Since then,
advances in clean-coal technology have made it possible to burn
Illinois coal and still meet the strictest air-quality standards in
the nation.
Illinois now has the most aggressive package of incentives in the
nation to spur clean-coal-fueled power plant development and provide
other support for the Illinois coal industry. In July 2003,
Blagojevich signed a law that added $300 million in revenue bonds to
the Coal Revival Program, which provides major tax and financing
incentives to large clean-coal-fueled projects.
Since 2003, the state has invested $64.7 million in coal
development projects, including the Peabody Energy Electric Prairie
State project in Washington County and the Taylorville Energy
Center, a coal gasification project in Christian County. Also
included is more than $45 million in grants to Illinois coal
operators who upgrade their facilities to make their product more
competitive, as well as more than $11 million for advanced research
through the Illinois Clean Coal
Institute.
Blagojevich also has led an effort with the Illinois
congressional delegation to tout Illinois' advantages as a site for
the U.S. Department of Energy's proposed
FutureGen project, which will demonstrate making electric power
and hydrogen fuel from coal with near-zero harmful emissions. The
project site is expected to be chosen within the next year.
In the 1980s, Illinois employed over 18,000 coal miners,
producing more than 60 million tons of coal per year. Today, despite
a 77 percent reduction in work force, Illinois coal companies still
produce 32 million tons of coal annually, with production up nearly
10 percent in the past two years.
Over 50 percent of all electricity used in the United States
comes from coal, and Illinois' supply is among the most abundant in
the world. "At our current production level, which is more on a
tons-per-man basis than ever, we have enough coal in Illinois to
meet the energy needs of the entire nation for the next 200 years,"
Angleton said
In terms of energy value, Illinois coal has more British thermal
units than the oil supplies of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
