National Mining Association senior vice-president Dan Gerkin, who presented on The View in Washington, briefed the approximately 200 guests on the NMA’s efforts for the past year, particularly with regards to its Mine Safety Commission report and its involvement in the MINER Act of 2006.

He outlined the development of the MINER Act, which began as Senate Bill 2803 on May 16 and was signed into law June 15 of this year and, according to Gerkin, “included many of the provisions and principles that have been developed by the NMA, CEOs and the mine safety committee”

He called the short span of time between introduction and signage “unprecedented” and noted the entire process was complete before the six-month anniversary of the explosion at ICG’s Sago mine that was the impetus for it and so many other legislative efforts. Bipartisan support by the political community and knowledge that “time was of the essence” were the keys to its passage, Gerkin noted.

The NMA is now “setting the stage” for the upcoming year with many industry projects, such as the planned establishment of a Coal Conversion Working Group – made up of coal-to-liquids developers and coal producers – as well as the organisation of a coal-to-liquids coalition and the NMA’s continued grassroots efforts to garner support from the American political sector.

A trio of state coal association representatives followed Friday morning, beginning with West Virginia Coal Association president Bill Raney. Raney, who is also the force behind the state’s Friends of Coal advocacy group, proclaimed that “coal is West Virginia’s best friend” and that the view of coal and the industry is getting better within the state’s borders. He also added that membership of Friends now tops 100,000 in 27 US states.

Raney offered some statistics on the state’s industry, including good news that its production is running 2% ahead of the same period last year, and that both the south and north regions of West Virginia are seeing growth.

With more than 17,000 miners working at approximately 1177 active mines during the second quarter of 2006 and with a stance as one of the top coal producing states in the US, he noted that 10% of the state’s general revenue budget is a result of West Virginia’s booming coal sector.

“The point is, we’ve got a lot of coal left,” Raney said. That’s positive news for a state that gets 99% of its electricity from coal. Coal use is up threefold, he reported, while emissions have dropped 84%.

Kentucky Coal Association’s Bill Caylor then took the stage, where he shared his own state-centred industry statistics with the crowd. He also shared recent research of coal injuries and fatalities, as resulting numbers have shown that coal miners are safer than the average worker in the state.

In terms of fatalities in the industry as a whole, mining falls below several sectors including construction, manufacturing, government and public utilities. However, Caylor said the focus remains on reducing injuries and fatalities through mine safety moves and training.

While the state of Kentucky and the association are looking at several other areas of concentration – including substance abuse, and regulations that include tighter requirements for items such as storage caches, ventilation plans and mandatory underground inspection schedules – he noted that one area of worry is the state’s mine rescue teams. In danger of having the state drop the teams that they currently support, Caylor said it is important that mine rescue training requirements be adjusted.

He also told the audience about its public relations program for which the KCA received $US500,000 in funding this past May. A campaign consisting of radio advertisements, print ads and television spots are planned.

The third in the triple-state update was Tommy Hudson of Virginia Coal Association. Hudson’s presentation, A Traditional Approach with a Forward Look, also outlined the group’s own plans with regards to the industry.

Even though Virginia had a year with zero fatalities in 2005 (with an average of three fatalities per annum since 1992), Hudson’s concern going forward also focused on mine rescue teams and requirements that will soon be in place with the MINER Act.

He told the audience that an adjustment to the mandates for the state of Kentucky was needed, as the Act’s clauses that all teams act within a certain time limit and are trained at all mines being serviced will actually hinder the state’s efforts to efficiently keep all of its mines safe.

The state operates a mine rescue team program, Caylor explained, that 41 participating mines pay the state to be a part of – but there are only three teams to go around. “The program is now in danger,” Caylor said, and suggested that the existing teams could be certified as state employees during their training hours so as to exempt them from new federal rules.

While Caylor had some criticism for government “legislating with emotion”, he did say that the state’s focus on technology improvements do have some positives. Mine monitoring systems, blind spot evaluations and tracking are just a few of those being examined in Kentucky.

Wrapping up the day and the symposium itself was Marshall Miller and Associates senior vice-president John Feddock, who took on “Retreat Mining Practices: Can Additional Training Improve Safety?” as the final presentation to the industry crowd.

Based on a retreat mining study conducted between mid-2004 and mid-2005, Feddock outlined the tasks required of the firm, which was hired to look at retreat mining methods as they related to injuries and fatalities.

Upon completion of its study, Feddock said, MM&A made recommendations while also detailing the role that geology must play in the development of roof control plans at room and pillar operations. Some retreat mining plan changes they suggested included the coordination of MSHA and state plans, variations for supplemental support, and the use of load rate indicators on MRS units, among others.

The project, which was completed for the state of Kentucky, also returned recommendations, including training plans. To round out the discussion, Feddock also shared the statutes and regulations already in place within the mining-rich state.

The next event in Bluefield, the biennial Bluefield Coal Show, will be held September 12-14, 2007 at the Brushfork Armory Civic Center.

Keep watching International Longwall News and the upcoming edition of American Longwall Magazine for more information and news from the Bluefield Coal Symposium 2006.