MORGANTOWN -- Imagine being at work and the air suddenly becomes poisonous.
Where would you go? What would you do?
Now imagine you are hundreds of feet under the Earth when the air turns toxic.
Last month, 12 miners suffocated after the Sago Mine filled with carbon monoxide. Each of the miners had equipment to give them an extra hour of oxygen, but the oxygen ran out.
New laws passed since the disaster try to prevent that from happening again by requiring mines to store extra air supplies underground.
It’s a policy Boone County coalminer Dave Crawford said is long overdue.
“Oh, I think it’s been needed for a long, long time,” said Crawford, who has worked in mines for 25 years.
But is it enough?
Mine safety experts say the miners in the Sago tragedy became disoriented, could not find extra oxygen and were unable to escape.
“You’d really be surprised at how people panic at that situation no matter how long they’ve been in the mines,” Crawford said.
Industry officials say having extra oxygen available will not prevent every death, but it will improve safety.
“And I think what it does is refocus everyone's attention to the things as I say, that is escape from the mine if you possibly can,” said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association.
Many believe a better solution will require better technology.
A Texas-based company says a device that creates oxygen by mixing two chemical powders could save miners lives.
Engineers at West Virginia University developed an air monitoring system that they installed in a Monongalia County mine. A student was monitoring here on campus when he noticed that there was a problem. He called over to the mine and talked to his supervisor, who quickly checked it out.
“A boss got there just in time to spot a miner putting out a cigarette,” said Joe Dorton with West Virginia University’s mine extension office. “His cigarette smoke was detected in Morgantown, reported back to the mine and the boss went in and checked before the minor could finish his smoke.”
But until those technologies make it underground, miners will have to rely on the equipment that’s been used for generations.
