13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Trouble in Indiana's mine inspection program

Trouble in Indiana's mine inspection program

Bob Segall/Eyewitness News

March 13 - Two days after the West Virginia coal mining accident that killed 12 miners in January, a clear directive went out from Miguel Rivera, Indiana's commissioner of labor. In a letter to John Alaria, the deputy commissioner of the bureau of mines, Rivera wrote: "I am instructing you to commence inspection at each of the underground commercial coal mines in Indiana."

The state decided to "commence" inspections because, as an Eyewitness News investigation found, state officials hadn't inspected a single one of Indiana's seven underground coal mines for at least a year - a violation of state law.

"I made that call," state Department of Labor Commissioner Miguel Rivera told Eyewitness News.

In response to a request for copies of the last two years' worth of inspections, the labor department acknowledged there were no inspections in 2005.

Rivera said he made the decision to use Bureau of Mines resources on other priorities.

"Our focus is on training miners and mine rescue," he said. Rivera also noted that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration routinely has inspectors on the job in Indiana's mines.

It's not unusual, however, for large coal-producing states - Indiana ranks eighth - to have inspection programs that run parallel to the MSHA's program. Indiana law requires quarterly inspections at each underground mine.

David Whitcomb, assistant manager in the MSHA district that includes Indiana, declined to address the lack of inspections by the state. But, he said, "There's room for both of us to have active and positive roles in the mine safety arena."

State law also requires the bureau of mines to have both a director and a chief mine inspector, but for most of the last year, the bureau has had only one employee - Alaria.

Rivera said the department's budget wouldn't allow for the hiring of a second employee, but Alaria was filling both roles.

Alaria's response to Rivera's January letter indicated he wasn't happy with the setup. Dated January 9 - five days after the miners were found dead in West Virginia - his letter raised questions about the timing of Rivera's decision to reinstate the inspections as well as his own ability to conduct them effectively.

"For nine months now you have been telling that we were not going to inspect mines," Alaria wrote. "That we were going to let the Federal do the inspections, as not to double up on inspecting the coal companies. Now all of a sudden, you want me to inspect all of the underground mines in Indiana, each quarter. I believe that one inspector cannot do a complete inspection of seven mines in one quarter. It takes a complete quarter to inspect one mine, of any size in its entirety, let alone seven in one quarter.

"I told you a while back that this would happen as soon as a disaster occurred. Questions would be asked and fingers pointed. Now since there is no way that I can complete seven underground mine inspections in there (sic) entirety, it will seem that I am not doing my job."

Rivera said the exchange of letters - and his decision to begin inspections - had nothing to do with the West Virginia mine disaster. He called the timing a "pure coincidence," saying he had been planning for some time to reinstate the inspections.

"I don't see a need to duplicate those sorts of efforts," he said of the state and federal inspection programs. "However, the state legislature has decided that's what we will do, so that's what we're doing."

Rivera said Alaria was emotional when he wrote his letter. The two men met face-to-face to discuss the concerns, after which Alaria proceeded to inspect the mines.

The process of inspecting coal mines is intensive. State law requires the inspection of every working place in a mine - surface facilities, travelways and airways, entrances to abandoned workings, ventilation facilities, roof and rib conditions, and communications installations, among other things. Indiana's biggest mine has about 40 miles of tunnels that must be inspected.

It is not unusual for inspections to take months to complete, according to both state and federal officials. MSHA has 10 full-time inspectors for Indiana's underground mines. Whitcomb said Whitcomb said the smallest Indiana mine takes about three weeks but the larger mines can take up an entire quarter.

But Alaria's inspections this year at all seven of Indiana's underground mines were finished in just seven weeks.

That came despite the assertion in his letter to Rivera: "A complete mine inspection takes several, and in some cases an entire twelve weeks to complete. I do not believe that you have any idea how much time is involved in a complete inspection."

Asked to account for that, Rivera replied: "He was wrong."

How thorough were Alaria's inspections? On paper, the inspections total 17 pages. Alaria visited each mine at least once and the longest he spent at any one mine was four days. At the mine where the state had its last fatality, the Air Quality Mine near Wheatland, he spent three days and raised three issues of concern. By contrast, the most recent federal inspection began Dec. 29, is still ongoing, and has identified 110 safety citations.

"It's a detailed inspection," Whitcomb said. "We cover every inch of the mine."

Just last week, Eyewitness News has learned, Alaria resigned as the state's only Bureau of Mines official. A former federal inspector with 37 years' experience in the industry, he didn't want to talk about the inspections or his letter to the labor commissioner. Alaria said he didn't want to get involved in politics and was quitting to take a job at a mining company.

Monday, Rivera said he already has made an offer to a potential replacement and hopes to have the job filled within 10 days.

Despite the lack of inspections in 2005, Rivera pointed out that there were no fatalities in Indiana coal mines last year - proof, he said, that the state's overall safety program is working.

Rivera also pointed a finger at previous administrations, saying the department he inherited last year was a mess and that he could find no evidence of any recent mine inspections.

Both current and former inspectors told Eyewitness News that inspections were being done, but River said: "As far as our records show, there had not been an inspection by an Indiana state mine inspector for around eight years," he said.

About 1,500 miners work in Indiana's underground coal mines, which are centered around Vincennes in the southwestern part of the state. Officials expect five new mines to open up in the next few years, requiring about 3,000 more miners.

Rivera said the state's focus has been on improving mine rescue operations and establishing a better program to train new miners in partnership with Vincennes University. Will he add more inspectors?  Rivera said he doesn't have the budget to do that.  In fact, he said he would consider eliminating state inspections altogether if the legislature "upgrades" the state mining law to allow that.  Rivera said that would eliminate state duplication of federal efforts.

While he acknowledged the department hasn't met the letter of the mine inspection law, Rivera said: "The spirit of that law is being accomplished and exceeded.... People can go to bed at night and sleep well because Indiana mines are much safer than any other mines in the country."

One person unconvinced is Jennifer Qualls, whose husband Christopher was the miner killed at the Air Quality Mine in 2004. She said it takes more than an inspector - it takes thorough inspections - to help make sure miners come home at the end of each day.

"That's a daddy or maybe a grandparent," she said. "You need to take care of them."

Qualls said her husband promised her that the mines were inspected and that he would be okay. The day he didn't come home is always on her mind.

"Every time I look at my kids, every night when they go to bed and they want Daddy to hold them and he's not here and I can't fix that for them," she said. "Every day."

Produced by Gerry Lanosga.