Underground coal mines must provide up to four days of breathable air to keep miners alive in emergencies such as an explosion or a tunnel collapse, federal regulators announced Thursday. A law enacted last year after a string of deadly accidents, including the deaths of 12 miners at the Sago Mine in January 2006, required mine operators to provide enough air to keep miners alive in an emergency but did not specify how much. On Thursday, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration gave mine operators several options to comply with the requirement.
See "Coal Mines Must Provide 4 Days of Air", Associated Press, The New York Times, February 8, 2007