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n e w s c o n t i n u e d March 2014 www.coalage.com 13 Western Kentucky is home to the state's largest underground mine — Alliance Resource Partners' River View continuous miner operation near Uniontown in Union County. The mine produces more than 8 mil- lion tons annually. Although production ticked down a bit, 1.6% in Union County, sev- eral western Kentucky counties posted gains in 2013, led by Daviess County, a 22.6% increase, and Ohio County, a 13.4% rise. On the nega- tive side of the ledger, production mostly came to a grinding halt in Henderson County, down 99.1%, because Patriot Coal closed mines in the county. Not surprisingly, employment at mines and prep plants took a major hit across the state in 2013, reaching historically low levels in eastern Kentucky. By the close of 2013, statewide mining employ- ment stood at 11,781 down 16.5% from 2012. The 7,332 mining jobs in eastern Kentucky represented more than a 50% decrease from the region's 15,418 mining jobs in 2008. Average mining employment in western Kentucky held fairly steady last year, at 4,384 jobs. While that was down from 4,583 jobs in 2012, it still was significantly higher than the 3,357 jobs in 2008. And, 2014 may be a year of growth for western Kentucky. Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said he has heard talk that plans for several new mines may be unveiled for the region this year. He declined to identify the coal companies involved. "Moving forward this year, next year and the year after," he said, "we'll see some expansions and even new mines in western Kentucky." The extremely cold winter of 2013-2014 has helped to burn down utility stockpiles and, as a result, is "good short-term news for us. We still mined about 40 million tons in eastern Kentucky last year," making the region "the seventh-largest producer in the nation if it was a separate state." While the persistent decline in eastern Kentucky "is a great con- cern," Bissett disagrees with detractors who predict "coal is over" in eastern Kentucky. "But that's not true." MSHA Issues Refuge Alternative Safety Alert Following the January 1, 2014, requirement for all U.S. underground coal operators to have Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) approved refuge chamber alternative components including breath- able air, harmful gas removal and air monitoring, the agency has issued a safety alert on the technology with more information. In the bulletin, federal regulators said that the now-approved components give miners additional protections. With the breathable air component, backup regulators have been added to provide miners with oxygen if one regulator fails. Compressed oxygen systems have been redesigned to reduce the risk of an oxygen fire. With the harmful gas removal component, scrubbing and airlock purging systems have passed performance tests and ensure miners are not exposed to dangerous levels of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide while occupying the refuge alternative. Additionally, relating to the air monitoring component, MSHA said these instruments allow miners to measure the levels of oxy- gen, methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide outside of the refuge alternative, in the airlock, and in the main chamber. CA_pg04-23_V2_CA_pg06-23 3/12/14 12:31 PM Page 13