The death of Dale Reightly, the Schuykill County man killed inside of the Buck Mountain mine Monday, will not be forgotten. David A. Lucas will make sure of that. As a man who insists on the inclusion of his middle initial in his name, "David A." pays attention to detail. That's why he maintains a coal memorial in his front yard.
The names on the memorial are of the men who've died because of the mines. Either they died inside, or black lung got them later. He doesn't discriminate, either. His father's name is on the memorial, but many of the names are of men he never knew. And I respect him for his dedication.
When I asked David A. Lucas about the difficulties associated with the life of a coal miner (ex. the cramped quarters, the hard work, the danger, etc.) his reply was this:
"It's a job and somebody has to to do it. It's in our blood."
I've heard variations of this before. Opinions like that are practically a badge of honor for coal miners and their families. In the past year, I've been to the scenes of four fatal coal-mining accidents that have claimed the lives of fifteen men. Prior to Monday, the previous three accidents were in West Virginia.
The first was at the Sago mine. The events of those days will be the topic of a later blog, but suffice it to say 12 men died and I haven't been the same since.
But neither has the mining industry. In the months that have followed the Sago mine disaster, riding the emotional wave being led by the grieving Sago families, there have been many sweeping changes at the federal level that relate to the safety of underground coal mines. Some involve extended air supplies on the Self-Contained Self-Rescuers (SCSR's) the miners wear when gas is detected. Some involve the addition of "safe rooms" underground, so miners can survive for longer in the event of an explosion.
But according to David A. Lucas, those regulations may be the death of the anthracite coal industry. There are only 12 anthracite, or hard coal, mines still in operation in Pennsylvania. Hard coal is primarily used for home heating. I come from the bituminous coal fields of West Virginia. That's the soft coal. It's used to help provide electricity for the entire country. And there are many more than 12 mines.
"David A." says the new safety regulations may be good for the deep, bituminous coal mines. But they shouldn't apply, he says, to the hard coal mines. He says the industry can't afford all of the required upgrades - with 12 total mines it can barely afford to operate.
My point isn't that he's right. He may be. But my point is that it's thought-provoking for me to come here, from a place where coal mine accidents had become practically a daily "Top Story", and find myself covering another one. I can't escape it. I probably never will. And I don't really want to. For better or worse, it's a subject that I now have a great deal of familiarity with and feel comfortable reporting about.
And to come from a place where the cry for safer mines is still at a fever pitch, to a place where those same regulations are seen as an example of a government over-reaching it's bounds, just helps to keep things in perspective. What's good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.
