The struggle toward safer mines

It's been a busy week on the mine safety front. West Virginia's mine safety chief made his pitch to the House Finance Committee for a $4.3 million boost to his agency's salary; Ron Wooten will present his request to the Senate Finance Committee at the end of the month.

Wooten's agency, meanwhile, has cited International Coal Group over the way it has tested for deadly methane at the Sago Mine, where 12 miners died in last year's tragic blast. The citation carries an as-yet-unset fine.

The state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training also told the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety on Thursday of its proposal to require better electrical grounding to deter surges lightning.

Investigators believe lightning sparked the methane explosion at Sago. But lingering questions about the blast's cause, and other aspects of the disaster, have complicated a move to revisit state mine safety rules.

Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin offered his views on efforts in this arena to MetroNews.

UPDATE: AP Business Writer Tim Huber marks the first anniversary of the Aracoma Mine fire that killed two workers.

And a group of Republican state senators has proposed awarding tax credits to coal operators who buy top-shelf safety gear (see latter half of linked article).