Coal Miners' Lawsuit Seeking Safety Measures Is Dismissed

A federal judge yesterday threw out a lawsuit by coal miners demanding that the government do more to ensure miners have working oxygen supplies and know how to use them.

The lawsuit was filed in June after Congress had overhauled mine safety rules in response to the collapse of West Virginia's Sago Mine, where 12 miners died in January.

The United Mine Workers of America had sought to force the Mine Safety and Health Administration to conduct periodic checks of oxygen units and provide emergency training for all underground coal miners.

But U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said the lawsuit did not meet the legal requirements for forcing a court order.

"The loss of lives, and the risks miners presently face, weigh heavily in public discourse and are taken seriously by this court," Bates wrote. "But the tragedy of those events, and the need for greater protection described by plaintiff, cannot substitute for the requirements of the law."

Mine operators are required to provide oxygen units for their workers, but the union said the devices often do not work properly and miners are not adequately trained to use them.

Union spokesman Phil Smith said he had not seen the opinion, but he noted that a lot was at stake in the case.

"It could have led to security for coal miners that the safety equipment they carry with them underground every day was working properly," Smith said.

The sole survivor of the Sago collapse, Randal McCloy Jr., said that at least four of his crew's air packs failed, forcing the miners to share the devices.

McCloy and the families of two victims filed lawsuits yesterday against the mine owner and five other companies in a West Virginia court.

All three lawsuits accuse International Coal Group Inc. and a subsidiary of negligence in the operation of the mine. The suits allege that unsafe working conditions led to the Jan. 2 explosion.

Twelve men died in the blast and prolonged entrapment at the coal mine near Buckhannon, while McCloy was severely injured.

The lawsuits were filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court by McCloy and his wife, Anna; Judy Bennett, widow of miner Alva Bennett; and Lily Bennett, widow of miner James Bennett.

Each suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Besides targeting ICG and its subsidiary, Wolf Run Mining, the suits accuse a number of mine suppliers of failing to provide proper safety equipment. Named were Burrell Mining Products Inc., Raleigh Mine and Industrial Supply Inc., GMS Mine Repair and Maintenance Inc., and CSE Corp.

The lawsuits filed by the Bennett families also seek an injunction to force ICG and Wolf Run to implement the recommendations of an independent investigation commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin III (D).