Mine Where 5 Died Had History of Violations
By IAN URBINA
Published: May 23, 2006
The Kentucky mine where five men were killed in an explosion on Saturday had been cited at least 41 times in the last five years for failing to clean up coal dust properly, which can lead to explosions, according to federal records.
State officials and mining experts said the reach of the blast, which was felt more than 5,000 feet from its estimated point of origin, seemed to indicate that coal dust was a major factor.
Methane, which is released naturally from coal as it is extracted, is highly flammable and is usually the cause of mining explosions. But such blasts rarely travel so far without dangerous levels of coal dust in the air, said Tony Oppegard, a former top official with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and a former prosecutor of mine-safety violations in Kentucky....
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Mine operators are supposed to use crushed limestone, known as rock dust, to limit coal dust levels.
Federal regulators had cited Kentucky Darby LLC, the operator of the mine, three times this month, and at least 38 other times since 2001, for not cleaning up coal dust and other combustible materials, according to federal records. While federal investigators continued to study the cause of the explosion at the mine, relatives of the miners voiced frustration over a report that the miners' air packs had not worked....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/us/23mine.html