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Mine Safety and Health Administration

Petition - Docket No. M-2007-039-C

 

In the matter of: Petition for Modification Mountain Coal Company, LLC

West Elk Mine

I.D. No. 05-03672 Docket No. M-2007-039-C

 

PROPOSED AMENDED DECISION AND ORDER

 

On May 11, 2007, Petitioner filed a request to amend Docket No. M-1994-023-C. MSHA’s Proposed Decision and Order M-1994-023-C granted a modification of the application of 30 C.F.R. § 75.380(d)(4) to Petitioner’s West Elk Mine, located in Gunnison County, Colorado. In the Petition, the petitioner alleged that application of this standard would result in a diminution of safety to the miners and that the alternative method proposed in the petition would at all times guarantee no less than the same measure of protection afforded by the standard. The granted petition allowed a reduction in the width of the longwall section’s alternate escapeway, located in the belt conveyor haulage entry, from 6 feet to 48 inches for a distance of 1,050 feet. The reduced 48-inch width in the escapeway was measured between the belt structure and the hanging cables and hydraulic hoses suspended from a monorail system paralleling the conveyor.

 

The petitioner is now seeking to amend Docket No. M-1994-023-C due to the fact that a new longwall panel is scheduled to be set up and running sometime in October 2008 and, with the changes in technology, the emulsion pump stations can now be installed on the monorail system, which will reduce the length of the high pressure hoses from 1,050 feet to 220 feet. According to the petitioner, these changes will reduce injuries associated from the repeated manual handling and movement of the pump stations because, by placing the pump stations on the monorail system, the push-pull system will automatically move the pumps along with the other equipment installed on the monorail system. As a result, the petitioner is requesting that the reduction in the width of the escapeway from 6 feet to 48 inches be extended from the existing 1,050 feet to 2,300 feet. The facts and circumstances regarding Petition M-1994-023-C have not changed. The only changes are the installation of the emulsion pumps on the monorail system and the request that the 48-inch clearance along the monorail be extended an additional 1,250 feet.

 

The Petitioner maintains that the use of the belt entry as an alternate escapeway with the width reduced to 48 inches for a distance of 2,300 feet would provide an equal level of safety for the miners provided by § 75.380(d)(4) because the escapeway would ensure

 

passage of all persons, including disabled persons. Furthermore, it is ventilated with intake air and is the most direct, safe, and practical route to the surface of the alternative entries available.

 

MSHA personnel conducted an investigation on the amendment to the requested petition and filed a report of their findings with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. After a careful review of the entire record, including the petition and MSHA’s investigative report, this Proposed Decision and Order is issued.

 

Findings of Fact and Conclusion of Law

 

30 C.F.R. § 75.380(d)(4) requires that escapeways be maintained at least six feet wide. The Petitioner has utilized the reduced clearance in the escapeway for 1,050 feet along the monorail system on each longwall panel since October 5, 1995. The Petitioner’s alternative method can be summarized as the use of a monorail cable and hydraulic hose handling system, which reduces injuries from handling heavy and awkward cables and hoses in an escapeway entry where the escapeway width is reduced but still allows an effective and uninhibited escapeway.

 

MSHA’s investigation supports the Petitioner’s assertion that the widening of the belt entry adjacent to the retreating longwall mining system would cause greater problems in controlling the roof and ribs and could increase the number and size of roof falls that could make travel in the entry less safe for miners. Furthermore, due to changing technology, the hydraulic pumps and electrical controls can now be suspended from the monorail system, which will eliminate the handling of heavy cables, which should reduce injuries Also, the emulsion pumps station will be installed on the monorail system. This will reduce the length of high-pressure hoses in the monorail to approximately 220 feet, reducing miners’ exposure to the hoses, which is expected to reduce injuries. The Petitioner also accurately projects that fewer stoppings would be breached since the pumps and hoses would be in the same entry and injuries associated with the repeated manual handling of the pump station would be eliminated.

Petitioner also alleges that the mining height mitigates the effects of reduced clearances. MSHA’s investigation revealed mining heights of 10 to 15 feet. The height for future longwall panels is expected to be not less than 10 feet. This greater seam height allows travel under the suspended loads where the cables and hoses are stretched horizontally. Hoses, cable loops, controller modules, and emulsion tanks are suspended at a height that allows for safe travel, ensuring passage of all persons, including disabled persons.

 

MSHA has concluded that a diminution of safety could occur to the miners at the West Elk mine if they are required to widen the escapeway entry and that the petitioner’s proposed alternative method as outlined herein, along with the previously approved

 

terms and conditions, and the inclusion of new terms and conditions, will at all times guarantee no less than the same measure of protection afforded by the standard. On the basis of the petition and the findings of MSHA’s investigation, Mountain Coal Company, LLC is hereby granted an amendment to the existing modification of the application of 30 C.F.R. § 75.380(d)(4) to its West Elk Mine. Once this decision becomes final, it shall supersede Petition M-1994-023-C regarding § 75.380(d)(4), which was finalized on October 5, 1995.

 

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. § 811(c), it is ordered that Mountain Coal Company, LLC’s Petition for Modification to amend the previously granted modification (Docket No. M-1994-023-C) of the application of 30 C.F.R.

§ 75.380(d)(4) to its West Elk Mine is hereby:

 

GRANTED, for the “monorail area” the area immediately outby the stage-loader for a maximum distance of 2,300 feet in the belt entry of each longwall panel, conditioned upon compliance with the following terms and conditions:

 

  1. A minimum alternate escapeway width of 48 inches must be maintained in the “monorail area.”

     

  2. Reflective signs indicating “Tight Clearance” shall be posted and maintained at both ends of the affected area.

     

  3. Instructions on the impact of limited clearance and the importance of maintaining the escapeway in safe and travelable conditions shall be given to all employees required to work on the longwall section inby the affected area.

     

  4. The walkway shall be kept free of all hazards and obstructions. All extraneous material (spare parts, loose rock and debris, etc.) shall be removed to ensure a safe, travelable walkway.

     

  5. The roof bolts installed as primary roof support shall not be used in mounting the monorail system; supplemental roof bolts are required.

     

  6. Roof bolts used to support the monorail shall be of suitable length to ensure the monorail is anchored in competent roof and roof bolts shall be of suitable strength to support the monorail and the suspended equipment.

     

     

  7. High-pressure pumps and hoses installed on the monorail must be guarded or secured to protect persons from broken high-pressure hoses and oil spray while traveling or working along the monorail.

     

  8. Pumps located more than 500 feet from the working face shall be considered “unattended” and must comply with the requirements of 30 C.F.R. § 75.340.

 

Any party to this action desiring a hearing on this matter must file in accordance with 30 C.F.R. § 44.14, within 30 days. The request for hearing must be filed with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22209-3939. 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 may 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.

 

 

 

Kenneth A. Murray Deputy Administrator for

Coal Mine Safety and Health