In just the first 32 days of the year, 16 miners died while working underground. It's the highest death toll for the industry since 1994, and the tragedies at Sago, Aracoma, Black Castle and Long Branch mines have focused not only the state but the entire nation on the perils of underground mining.

State leaders say a new law will strengthen mine safety, prevent future deaths and change the way mines operate not only in West Virginia but throughout the nation.

"I think overall you are going to see a tremendous amount of changes," said Gov. Joe Manchin.

But will those changes -- be they new laws or updated policies -- really save miners' lives?

The people who know mining the best -- those who make a living digging, selling and shipping coal -- say it's a start. But simply passing legislation requiring extra oxygen storage underground, mandating that all miners are fitted with communication and tracking equipment and requiring mining companies to promptly report accidents isn't enough, they said.

They worry the law may have holes in it. And those holes could give industry and political leaders a false sense of security while putting more miners' lives in jeopardy.

Technology to communicate with and track workers when they go underground isn't reliable, they said. Extra stashes of breathing equipment can't help miners who are trapped or barricaded in an area without equipment. Mandating that every accident in a mine be reported to emergency officials within 15 minutes could cause false alarms and distract rescue workers in times of real crises.

Communication Crisis

In an age of instant communication, it seems unfathomable that two people cannot communicate when they are 200 feet apart.

"If we can put a man on the moon and talk with him, we ought to be able to communicate underground. We ought to be able to wake up and get it into the mines," said U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.

But people in the coal industry say it's not that easy. Talking through space is a lot easier than talking through 200 feet of solid rock.

"You are going into a unique environment under considerable geology," said Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. "It has its own ventilation system. It's own electrical system. It's own infrastructure. And by virtue of that, it is a lot different than anything else."

Since the Sago tragedy, mining experts have testified before state and federal authorities about mine safety. During some of their testimony, people have said communicating with miners underground is possible and is being done regularly in mines throughout the world.

The PED system is one potential lifesaver for trapped or lost miners. The system was developed by an Australian company, Mine Site Technologies, and allows mine employees above ground to send text messages to miners below.

Mines in China, Australia, Canada and the United States use the system without problems, according to a representative of the company.

Lawmakers said putting that type of equipment in mines is a no-brainer.

"I had the Australian people at my office, and I have the equipment in my office and I know that we can do it," Manchin said.

CONSOL Energy has installed the system at two mines in West Virginia -- the Blacksville and Robinson Run mines. The equipment works all right at one mine. It doesn't work well at the other, according to Thomas Hoffman, CONSOL's vice president for external affairs.

"We've been very much in favor of technology and tried various systems at our mines, but what we've found is that because conditions are different at each mine, the systems don't work well in every mine," he said.

One of the biggest complaints coal companies said they have with the PED system is that it only allows one-way communication. People above ground can send text messages to miners below. But miners can't send messages back.

That makes the system useless in an emergency when the hard-line phone is disconnected because of a fire or explosion and miners are trapped or lost.

"That's always the danger from looking at one type of mining accident and trying to extract lessons from it," Hoffman said. "The emphasis should be on technology as a way to prevent accidents or help people get out of a mine. That's the way to go, and we support it."

Coal company officials say tracking systems are even less reliable. Right now, the latest technology uses pagers worn on a miner's belt. When the miner walks through a corridor, a device on the wall notes the time. When the miner walks past the next device, the time is noted again.

"So we know that between this time and that time, the miner was in this one section of the mine. But we don't know exactly where he is," Raney said.

And like the PED system, the tracking system may not work when needed most.

Executives with Mine Site Technology said the tracking system still is being tested and improved. It is currently used in one mine in Australia.

Raney said most coal companies want to install communication and tracking equipment in their mines but only if it works.

"We want to get equipment that everybody has confidence in and that we know is going to work routinely and dependably," he said.

Sometimes it's the miners themselves who don't particularly like wearing the equipment.

"If a miner would quit moving for an extended period of time, it would signal to the surface that he was inactive. And some miners don't want to have their inactivity noticed and recorded," said Joe Dorton, a mine training agent with West Virginia University's Mining Extension Service.

Manchin said the state's new law does not dictate a deadline for the equipment to be installed, but it needs to be in the mines soon.

If the perfect technology doesn't exist now, Manchin said, ingenuity and market demands will come through with something better.

"This technology will advance, and I can tell you now that this is mandatory," he said.

Grasping for Air

Products already are being developed to make sure miners have access to breathable air while underground.

A Texas-based company, OxySure, just developed a machine to create breathable oxygen at the push of a button by mixing two powdered chemicals.

"Unlike traditional self-rescuers, it doesn't require oxygen tanks. So you don't have any explosion hazard. And the powders don't have a shelf life, so they can be stored for a long time," said company founder and CEO Julian Ross.

Plus, the powders are contained in small, lightweight cartridges that are easy to store or carry. When a miner needs more oxygen, all he has to do is pull out the old cartridges and slide in two new ones.

The federal Food and Drug Administration recently approved the equipment for medical emergencies. Ross said manufacturing should begin in the next few months.

"We've been in stealth mode for a long time, but (the recent mining fatalities) caused us to want to make this process available and reach out to the mining companies," Ross said.

OxySure is not alone.

Engineers throughout the country are trying to develop new breathing apparatuses, as well as equipment to monitor the air in a mine.

Engineers at West Virginia University developed an air-monitoring system that has been installed in a Monongalia County mine. A student was monitoring it 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 Dorton. "His cigarette smoke was detected in Morgantown, reported back to the mine, and the boss went in and checked before the miner could finish his smoke."

Miner David Crawford said the attention placed on increasing oxygen access underground is long overdue. He said having extra stashes of breathing apparatuses in "safe rooms" is something that's been needed for a long time. And new technologies that help miners know when to put on their self-contained self-rescuers is always good.

Not long ago, the mine Crawford works in had a safety drill. Machines were brought in to fill the shafts with fake smoke, and miners were tested to see how fast they could put on their breathing equipment and then find their way out.

"You'd really be surprised at how people panic at that situation no matter how long they've been in the mines," Crawford said. "It was an eye-opener. Some people you think, 'This guy's going to be the one that if anything happened, this is the guy I'm going to follow.' But sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes he's the one who panics the first."

And in that panic, people sometimes forget how to put on their breathing equipment, Crawford said.

That raises some concerns about West Virginia's new law requiring mines to store extra self-rescuers underground.

If miners are panicking and can't put them on, do extra supplies help? And if miners are behind a barricade, as they were at the Sago mine, will those extra apparatuses help if they are on the other side of the barricade?

Raney said those are legitimate concerns. But he said the real issue is that now people are looking for ways to improve safety.

"And I think what it does is refocus everyone's attention to the things ... that is, escape from the mine if you possibly can," he said.

Rescue Response

But when escape isn't possible, it's up to mine rescuers to go in and help get the miners out.

Manchin and other elected leaders hope the new law requiring mine companies to report accidents within 15 minutes will help emergency crews and rescue teams do their jobs even better. Companies that don't comply can be fined $100,000.

Manchin said when two miners died in two separate incidents Feb. 2 at the Black Castle and Long Branch mines, emergency officials were notified immediately. That's exactly what he wants.

"If you have a heart attack, do you called 911 immediately or do you let someone beat on your chest for two or three hours and say, 'Well, I gave it my best shot?' You call the professionals and bring in help with the right equipment," he said. "If you have a fire, you call the professionals immediately. So why don't we -- if we have an industrial accident or a mine accident -- call the professionals immediately?"

But some mine rescuers worry the risk of penalties and negative publicity for not reporting accidents will cause mining companies to report every accident no matter how big or small.

False alarms will become common. And those false alarms, rescue workers worry, could distract emergency workers from real crises.

Raney said it could take some time for the system to work itself out.

"There is an anticipation that there is going to be some confusion regarding that. There's likely going to be a lot of reaction to what may likely be false alarms," he said.

Focus on Safety

If nothing else, the tragedies so far this year have forced people to consider coal mining in a different way.

After years of debating about the environmental impacts of surface mining, eyes and minds have suddenly focused on the human aspects of mining.

"I don't think mine safety has gotten the attention that it should have," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Now that has changed. Other states and the federal government are duplicating the law introduced and passed in West Virginia. And safety records for every mine in the nation are being examined again to make sure workers who go underground will come out safely at the end of their shift.

Crawford said that is his favorite part of his job -- coming out safely.

And both Rockefeller and Manchin said they believe the new laws will ensure that happens more often. Manchin said that is the best legacy the miners who died this year could leave.

"With all the tragedies we've had in the past 30 to 40 days, there's got to be a silver lining, and I committed myself to those families that (the miners) would not have died in vain," Manchin said.

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