US mine deaths fall to record low
FRANKFORT, Ky. - The number of miners killed on the job in the United States fell to 51 in 2008, the fewest number of deaths in nearly a century, according to data released by federal regulators yesterday.
The US Mine Safety and Health Administration reported that 29 of the deaths occurred in coal mines, down from 34 in 2007; and 22 were in copper, stone, and other types of mines, down from 33 in 2007.
The 51 deaths are the lowest number since the federal government began keeping records in 1910. The previous low was 55 in 2004.
Revamped safety laws and beefed up enforcement were among factors that led to the overall decline in mining deaths, federal mine safety chief Richard Stickler told The Associated Press. But Stickler said he is not pleased.
"Certainly, 51 fatalities are 51 tragedies - 51 families that will be forever changed," he said. "And that is unacceptable and disheartening."
Mine safety became a focal point in 2006 and 2007 following a series of mining disasters in Kentucky, Utah, and West Virginia. In 2006, 73 miners were killed, including 12 who died in a methane explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia and five who died in a similar explosion at the Darby Mine in Kentucky. In 2007, 67 miners died, including six who were killed in the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah.
Coal states revamped their mine safety laws and Congress toughened federal rules.
Kentucky led the nation in mine deaths with nine miners killed on the job. West Virginia was second with eight and Pennsylvania was third with seven. Most of those deaths were in coal mines.
While the overall number of mine fatalities was at a record low, coal fatalities were not, said United Mine Workers of America spokesman Phil Smith. Coal mining's record low was 23, set in 2005.
"There's still clearly a ways to go," Smith said. "We're by no means where we need to be in terms of safety in coal mines."
ASSOCIATED PRESS 