Hearing held on Utah mine collapse

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A U.S. Senate panel Friday looked into the collapse of a coal mine in which six miners were trapped, and what can be done to prevent similar disasters.

The Aug. 6 collapse at the Crandall Canyon Mine trapped six miners; operations to locate them ended Aug. 31. During the rescue operations, a cave-in killed three rescue workers.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa -- chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education -- noted the hazards of underground mining. Harkin said "new technologies, new procedures, inspections should reduce to the minimum possible these kinds of actions and I don't think that's happening right now."

Richard Stickler, assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health, said Mine Safety and Health Administration's accident investigation team has begun its work. The Labor Department appointed an independent team of mine safety experts to review the MSHA's actions.

Stickler said no MSHA-approved tracking technology was available to locate the miners.

"We have not been able to identify any two-way wireless systems that will work in a mine such as this without some type of an antenna or backbone wire going through the mine," he said.