Mines face increasing explosives oversight
Washington (Platts)--25May2005
One of the stories told at Tuesday's Eastern Coal Council session in Kingsport, Tenn., was about the mine employee who won a shotgun at a company function, but then his boss was approached by law enforcement officers who told him the employee would be arrested because he was a felon in possession of a firearm. Fortunately, Charles Ellis told the audience, the boss was allowed to arrange for the hapless employee to be arrested off-site. However, the Austin Sales/Virginia Drilling executive said, had that employee been handling explosives, the boss might have well been arrested, too. "When you're dealing with the federal government, and strict regulations, they don't care," Ellis said. For the first time beginning next year, the mining industry will be subject to regulations of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in the handling and management of explosives, he said. This is all part of the post-9/11 crackdown to prevent future terrorist acts, Ellis said. In 2003, the last year for which statistics are available, US explosive production was 2.29-mil metric tons. The coal mining industry consumed 1.54-mil mt of that, according to the US Geological Survey. Under the stiffer federal regulations, even dishonorably discharged veterans won't be allowed to handle explosives, Ellis said. Mine foremen, managers and owners will be held legally accountable for their employees' complying with those regulations. Also, states are applying extra scrutiny in explosives used near residential areas. For example, Ellis cited a new Virginia regulation that requires mine employees go door-to-door warning nearby residents when blasting is imminent instead of sounding a warning horn. Among the penalties for a stray boulder from a mine site can be shutdown of the operation, Ellis said, even when no harm or damage happened. This story was originally published in Platts Coal Trader http://www.coaltrader.platts.com
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