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 Richard Stickler, head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, was scheduled to be the first to testify Wednesday before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about the Aug. 6 Crandall Canyon Mine accident. Nine died because of the collapse, which left six of its victims entombed.
Several experts were expected to testify at the hearing, including President Clinton's mine safety director, Davitt McAteer. Senators had invited testimony from Robert Murray, the Crandall Canyon Mine's co-owner, but Senate staffers said Tuesday that Murray had declined to appear.
Senators are skeptical that Stickler's agency is doing enough to enforce mine safety rules in the wake of disasters at West Virginia's Sago mine and two others. The three accidents helped make 2006 the deadliest year for coal mining in more than a decade.
Senators want to know whether more regulations are necessary and if the safety improvements mandated after Sago are being put in place fast enough.
"What the hell does it take to shake up that agency?" Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Tuesday.
"MSHA was intended to be a strong federal agency with the authority to investigate, penalize and, when necessary, shut down a coal mine for safety violations," Byrd said. "It is infuriating to watch MSHA, even after the tragedy at Sago, continue its tepid minimalist approach to mine safety."
Six miners were trapped when the Utah mine collapsed with such force that it felt like an earthquake. Ten days later, three rescue workers were killed when the mine caved in again.
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 Last week, MSHA called off attempts to find the miners by drilling holes from the surface after a seventh hole found no signs of life. It ended a gut-wrenching month in which experts, union officials and family members have questioned MSHA's judgment about the mine plan and the rescue efforts.
Several congressional panels are investigating MSHA's role at Crandall Canyon, among other aspects of the accident. More hearings are expected in October.
"We owe it to our mining families to do everything in our power to get this done right and make sure every miner returns home safely at the end of their work day," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees MSHA.
Experts have questioned why MSHA approved the mining plan at Crandall Canyon, which they say was risky given the terrain. Experts also say the monthlong struggle to find the trapped miners shows the urgent need to develop better rescue techniques and a way to communicate inside mines.
Congress moved quickly to pass a flurry of laws after last year's deadly accidents. They called for the government to develop new communications equipment by 2009 that could survive the force of a massive cave-in and lead rescuers to trapped miners.
[Associated Press; by Jennifer
Talhelm]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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