FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Isakson Hosts Mine Safety Discussion
  Vows to Make Mining Safer in an ‘Informed Way and Not a Reactionary Way’  

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the fatal mining accident in West Virginia, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today hosted a roundtable discussion on the latest technologies that could make miners safer on the job, including oxygen supplies and underground-to-surface communications.

“We learned today about the safety technologies that exist, the ones we hope will be developed in the future and the mechanisms to put these technologies into place to make mine safety in the United States of America better,” said Isakson, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety.                   

“As legislators responding to a crisis, we want to do whatever we can do to make mining safer, but we want to do it in an informed way and not a reactionary way,” Isakson said “We learned today a lot about the economics of mine safety, a lot about new technologies for oxygen availability and a tremendous amount about the difficulty but also the promise of communications that can penetrate the earth.”

In January, Isakson met with the families of the 12 miners killed in the Jan. 2 explosion at Sago Mine in West Virginia, toured the exterior of the mine and spoke with officials from the International Coal Group as part of a Senate delegation examining the incident.     

Isakson called today’s roundtable a positive first step in the process of determining how to make mines safer and promised to continue to explore the issue. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, on which Isakson serves, plans to hold an oversight hearing in March into mine safety procedures and enforcement measures related to the Sago Mine tragedy. 

Participants at today’s roundtable included: Bob Campman, President, Grace Industries; Pat Droppleman, President, Ocenco Corporation; Dr. R. Larry Grayson, Chair, Department of Mining & Nuclear Engineering, University of Missouri-Rolla; Wes Kenneweg, President, Draeger Industries; Dr. Roy Nutter, Professor, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, West Virginia University; Dennis O’Dell, Administrator, Health and Safety Programs, UMWA; Dr. Keith A. Pauley, President, MATRIC; Sam Shearer, President, CSE Corporation; Dr. Starnes Walker, Technical Director, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Navy; and Gary Zamel, President, Mine Site Technologies Pty. Ltd

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