Jan 5 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Owen Covington Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced plans Wednesday to boost coal education programs around the state, which he said will increase mine safety and replenish the coal mining work force.

"The Kentucky coal industry is a vital component of our history and economy," Fletcher said. "We're investing more in our miners."

The state will provide $170,000 in grants to launch the Kentucky Coal Academy at four of the state's community and technical colleges, including the Madisonville Community College, and to fund 31 coal engineering scholarships at the University of Kentucky.

"Too often I think we've taken our coal industry for granted," said Sen. Jerry Rhoads of Madisonville. "I hope we can do more than was announced today."

Through the new Kentucky Coal Academy, which will receive a $120,000 grant, two-year degree programs in the coal mining field will be established at the four community and technical college campuses.

Those programs hopefully will produce better qualified coal miners, and others who will continue their education at UK's coal engineering program, Fletcher said.

The Madisonville campus has already received a high-tech mining simulator that helps better prepare students for the experience of working in the mines, Rhoads said.

"I think it's a great step for not only the community college, but for the whole region," Rhoads said.

The announcement came just days after 12 coal miners were killed in a mine explosion in Tallmansville, W.Va., and less than a week after a Cumberland miner died after being struck by a mining car.

In each of the past two years, five miners died in Kentucky, significant drops from the previous three decades in which Kentucky's mines experienced double-digit fatalities each year.

"Training is an essential piece in making sure miners are safe," Fletcher said.

Rep. Jim Gooch of Providence, who chairs the House committee on natural resources and environment, said he supported the additional funding for coal education.

"We don't have enough trained miners out there," Gooch said.

Along with improving safety, many hope the new coal mining education programs will make the coal mining industry more attractive to young people.

Legislators and coal industry executives stressed Wednesday that the coal mining industry has had trouble recruiting new miners, partly because of the stigma attached to coal mining, safety concerns and reduced staffing by mining companies.

In Kentucky, the average age of a coal miner is above 50, Fletcher said.

The state has funded 14 new positions for mine inspectors, but only seven of those have been filled so far in part because of a lack of qualified applicants, according to LaJuana Wilcher, secretary of the state Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.

Kenny Allen of Peabody Energy said his company is having trouble filling open positions, but has been working with Madisonville Community College to introduce more students to mining.

"We've missed at least a decade, one generation of educated miners," Booth said.