Petition for Modification
In the matter of
Webster County Coal Company
Dotiki Mine
I.D. No. 15-02132
Docket No. M-2000-024-C
30 CFR 75.333(b)(2)
PROPOSED DECISION AND ORDER
On February 25, 2000, a petition was filed seeking a modification of the application of 30 CFR 75.333(b)(2) to Petitioner's Dotiki Mine, located near Providence, Webster County, Kentucky. The Petitioner alleges that the proposed alternative method will at all times provide the same measure of protection as the standard. The Petitioner also alleges that the application of the standard results in a diminution of safety by exposing miners to work hazards associated with constructing stoppings and moving belt conveyors.
MSHA personnel conducted an investigation of the petition and filed a report of their findings and recommendations with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. A Proposed Decision and Order (PDO) was issued on April 19, 2001. On May 10, 2001, a request for hearing was received from counsel for Webster County Coal Company. The case was assigned to an Administrative Law Judge on May 25, 2001. On June 1, 2001, the parties filed a Joint Motion to Stay Further Proceedings, and the motion was granted until July 13, 2001. By joint motion dated July 17, 2001, the parties requested a remand of the case to the Administrator for Coal in order to issue a new Proposed Decision and Order. The Administrative Law Judge granted the motion for remand on July 25, 2001.
The MSHA District conducted an additional investigation of the petition and filed a report dated June 12, 2001. After a careful review of the entire record, including the petition, MSHA's investigative reports, this PDO is issued.
Finding of Fact and Conclusion of Law
The primary means for directing air from the outside, through the mine openings, to the working areas and back to the surface is through the use of ventilation controls: either permanent controls, such as stoppings, overcasts or undercasts, and doors, or temporary controls, such as line brattice. Permanent ventilation controls are designed for long term use while temporary controls are intended for use on a short term basis. In general, section 75.333 specifies when each type of control can be used and how each permanent control is to be constructed. It is essential that ventilation controls be correctly constructed, maintained, and properly located to provide ventilation to working sections and other areas where it is needed to dilute methane, respirable coal mine dust and other contaminants, and provide miners with a safe and healthful work environment.
The petitioned standard, 30 CFR 75.333(b)(2) requires that permanent stoppings or other permanent ventilation control devices be built and maintained to separate belt conveyor haulageways from return air courses. Permanent stoppings maintain the integrity of return air courses as well as intakes at all times. Permanent stoppings are to be constructed of durable and noncombustible materials such as concrete, concrete block, brick, cinder block tile, or steel. Ventilation controls constructed of such materials provide protection against the spread of fires at these locations. When fire burns through a stopping or other ventilation control, the harmful products of combustion contaminate a greater area, increasing the danger to miners' lives. Permanent stoppings also help prevent methane and dust explosions that could occur if return air, carrying methane and coal dust, were allowed to course over ignition sources such as belts. Allowing return air to pass over a moving conveyor belt, particularly in mines where methane liberation is high, can increase the likelihood of an explosion caused by a spark along the conveyor.
After completing a belt move immediately prior to developing a set of return-side rooms, section 75.333(b)(2) requires a permanent ventilation control in the crosscut immediately outby the section loading point. The petition proposes that a line brattice temporary control be permitted in the first crosscut outby the section loading point in lieu of a permanent control. This would occur at a point in the section mining cycle immediately prior to the development of the return-side rooms. The temporary control would be in place for no more than 48 hours and then removed when return-side room development begins. In addition, the Petitioner proposes additional safety precautions while using a temporary ventilation control at this generally attended location.
The Petitioner alleges that construction of a permanent stopping as required by 75.333(b)(2) would create a diminution of safety to miners at Dotiki because it prohibits the belt line advancing inby the first temporary stopping thus requiring duplicate work. It asserts that compliance with the standard "demands belt installation one additional time (two times instead of one) or else it demands building a permanent stopping and then tearing it out within 24 to 48 hours after it as required." Petitioner states this "unnecessarily exposes miners to hazards and potential injuries associated with equipment exposure, materials handling, and the repetitive motion required to do the duplicative work." In support of this assertion, petitioner submitted lists of accidents which occurred during the installation of belt lines as well as building permanent stoppings.
The investigation report indicates that the mine, operating six working sections, constructs eight permanent stoppings on an average day. Solid concrete blocks are used at the mine to construct permanent stoppings. The investigation report states that 19 accidents have occurred during stopping construction although none were serious. In addition, 22 accidents have occurred at the mine during belt moves. Upon review, these records do not indicate at what point in the mining cycle the accidents occurred or whether the accidents were related or could have been prevented if the modification were granted. Stopping construction is a necessary and common activity in underground coal mines. Further, Section 75.333(b)(1) serves to address the hazards of methane explosions and fires from ignition sources in the belt entry. In this regard, the investigation report indicates that the Dotiki mine liberates methane at levels which resulted in a 10 day spot inspection last year, and that the Dotiki Mine is now on a 15 day spot inspection in accordance with the requirements of Section 103(i) of the Mine Act. On balance, the potential for fatalities and injuries which may result from methane explosions and fires are far greater than the potential injuries associated with belt installation and constructing permanent stoppings. For these reasons, MSHA has concluded that the application of the standard does not result in a dimunition of safety to the miners.
The Petitioner proposes that a temporary stopping instead of a permanent control be permitted in the first crosscut outby the section loading point. This would occur at a point in the section mining cycle immediately prior to development of return-side rooms. The temporary ventilation control would be removed when return-side room development begins. The Petitioner notes that two belt moves would be needed to comply with the standard, unless a permanent stopping were constructed and left intact for less than 48 hours.
The investigation report indicates that a temporary ventilation control at the location in question, for the limited time of 48 hours, is safe since it is a location near the faces and is in an area where persons can see the control. The methane liberation rate, roof conditions, and other physical conditions at the mine allow the use of a room development system where rooms are developed during advancement using multiple openings. The Dotiki Mine operates in the Kentucky No. 9 seam under 400 feet to 1,000 feet of cover. Section ventilation, belt entry ventilation, and escapeways are unaffected by the proposed petition. The belt haulage entries are continuously monitored for carbon monoxide by an atmospheric monitoring system with the nearby sensor located such that a failure of the ventilation control would not short-circuit intake air over the sensor. The modification which authorizes use of the CO monitoring system, Docket No. M-91-019-C, also requires that if a sensor becomes inoperative, a qualified person must monitor at that location.
Therefore, the proposed alternative method, together with the additional terms and conditions included herein, will at all times provide the same measure of protection as the standard. On the basis of the petition and the findings of MSHA's investigation, Webster County Coal Company is granted a modification of the application of 75.333(b)(2) to its Dotiki Mine.
ORDER
Wherefore, pursuant to the authority delegated by the Secretary of Labor to the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health, and pursuant to Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C., sec. 811(c), it is ordered that Webster County Coal Company's Petition for Modification of the application of 30 CFR 75.333(b)(2) at its Dotiki Mine is hereby:
GRANTED, subject to the following terms and conditions:
1. A temporary ventilation control may be used to separate the belt entries from the return aircourse in the first crosscut outby the section loading point for no more than 48 hours after completing a belt move at the point in the section mining cycle immediately prior to turning rooms on the return-side of the section.
2. The temporary ventilation control must be constructed as a framed check in a manner approved in the mine ventilation plan. The temporary control must be well maintained and any repairs must be made immediately.
3. During the period that the temporary control is in place (maximum 48 hours), the control must be examined during the preshift and onshift examinations required on the section. The examination shall ensure that the control is in good condition and serving its intended purpose of separating aircourses. The examiner must certify by date, time, and initials at the control that an examination was completed.
4. The belt entries must be monitored by a carbon monoxide monitoring system as specified in the modification granted for 30 CFR 75.1103-4(a) in Docket No. M-91-019-C.
5. To ensure that the temporary control is regularly observed by personnel, the temporary control must be in the line of vision with the section mechanic shack, the section dinner area and section power center, as shown on the sketches included in the petition.
6. The Petitioner's alternative method shall not be implemented until all personnel who work on the sections affected have received training in the terms and conditions of this PDO. A record of this training shall be maintained and made available to authorized MSHA representatives and to other interested parties.
7. Within 60 days after this Proposed Decision and Order becomes final, the Petitioner shall submit proposed revisions for its approved 30 CFR Part 48 training plan to the Coal Mine Safety and Health District Manager. The proposed revisions shall include initial and refresher training regarding compliance with the Proposed Decision and Order.
Any party to this action desiring a hearing on this matter must file in accordance with 30 CFR 44.14, within 30 days. The request for hearing must be filed with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22203.
If a hearing is requested, the request shall contain a concise summary of position on the issues of fact or law desired to be raised by the party requesting the hearing, including specific objections to the proposed decision. A party other than Petitioner who has requested a hearing shall also comment upon all issues of fact or law presented in the petition, and any party to this action requesting a hearing may indicate a desired hearing site. If no request for a hearing is filed within 30 days after service thereof, the Decision and Order will become final and must be posted by the operator on the mine bulletin board at the mine.
_________________________________
Michael J. Lawless
Deputy Administrator
for Coal Mine Safety and Health