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Deadly Mining Method Often Used
"It's been done for the last 70 years and been very successful for those years," Hill said. "It's something that the government approves and signs off on. Coal operators have been able to prove it's safe all along."
It's up to individual mines and "the coal community" to determine whether to use retreat mining and often times unions and management don't seem to mind, said Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, which represents mine companies in Washington.
  Doug Johnson, director of corporate services for Murray Energy Corp., and company vice president Rob Moore, left, talk about the six trapped coal miners at the entrance to the Crandall Canyon Mine on Monday, Aug. 6, 2007, northwest of Huntington, Utah. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac) (Douglas C. Pizac - AP) 
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"It's thought to be very valuable, useful," Popovich said.
NIOSH said that during retreat mining nearly half of those fatal accidents happened during the removal of the final pillar, which miners call the "suicide pillar," said J. Davitt McAteer, former head of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and now vice president of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia.
McAteer wrote a 2001 report for the state of West Virginia calling for tighter restrictions on the retreat mining process, saying one miner told him "We are always pushing the edge of safety; we are right up against it."
Some states are debating about even allowing the practice, he said. The state of Kentucky recently adopted new rules on retreat mining ordering companies to tell state officials before the practice is used, Oppegard said.
The deaths of four miners within 13 months in 2004 and 2005 prompted the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing to do an independent study of the practice. The resulting report recommended better training in geological conditions, roof control and retreat mining plans.
Last month, federal regulators cited the operator of the southern West Virginia coal mine, Brooks Run Mining Co., for safety violations that resulted in the deaths of two workers in a roof fall. MSHA reported that the company ignored its roof control plan and inadequately trained workers on safe retreat mining practices.
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Associated Press writers Jennifer Talhelm in Washington and Brock Vergakis in Utah contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety 2003 report: http:/
