LETHAL MIX IN MINES

Drug Use, 'Blasting From Solid' Dangerous

Kentucky law recognizes that explosives and illegal drugs are a lethal
mix. But without the authority to order drug tests, state mining
inspectors are helpless to enforce the law.

The General Assembly should fill that gap.

The state mine safety agency was poised to recommend this needed
change as part of its report on an underground explosion in June that
killed one miner and seriously injured another. But shortly after
releasing the report earlier this week, the Department of Mines and
Minerals sent out a revision that calls only for analyzing the need
for authority to drug test in suspect situations.

That analysis should be easy; the answer is obvious. The ban on mining
while chemically impaired is meaningless without the ability to test
individuals for drug or alcohol abuse. Police routinely order such
tests when they suspect that drugs or alcohol are factors in traffic
accidents. It's common sense to give similar authority to those who
enforce mine safety laws.

What would be worth spending some time studying is whether Kentucky
should ban the mining technique called "blasting from the solid" that
was used by Cody Mining Co., operator of the hellish Floyd County mine
where a 21-year-old drill-helper died.

Based on what state investigators found at the accident scene and the
54 citations they issued, it's fair to assume that this mine was
operated with little regard for the law or the lives of its 11
employees. To dislodge coal from a 30-inch seam, far more explosives
than allowed by law were packed into holes that had been drilled
larger than the legal limit. The impermissible drill was hidden when
government inspectors made their six required annual visits and moved
from the fatal accident scene, according to testimony from employees.

Explosives were shot off simultaneously in three places, instead of
the one allowed by law. No one bothered with ventilation except when
inspectors were around, so miners scooping coal worked in thick smoke
for hours at a time.

Because the mine's tunnels had been cut at crazy angles, the dead
miner, his superintendent and a third miner thought they were
sheltered on the day of the accident. But they were directly in the
path of the powerful blast. In addition to the drill-helper who died,
the mine superintendent, 28, whose father owns the company, was
seriously injured.

A co-worker said he had seen the two crushing and snorting pills
underground for two months. "I tried talking to them to stop. I don't
think the accident would have happened had it not been for the drugs."

Marijuana also was found in the mine.

We'll concede that Cody is an egregious example. But we still urge the
state to consider outlawing "blasting from the solid." Digging coal
will never be risk free. But mechanization has eliminated this
primitive form of mining, and its extra inherent dangers, in all but a
very few Kentucky mines. The coal industry would lose little except
part of its bad image if the practice was ended.