State officials expect to miss a deadline next week to report to Gov. Joe Manchin about the adequacy of West Virginia's new rules governing underground coal-mine seals.

Ronald Wooten, director of the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training, said his agency needs more time to test alternative ways to make seals explosion proof.

"We're not going to make our deadline to make recommendations to the governor," Wooten said Monday. "We're continuing to study the issue. We'll have recommendations later in the summer."

Since the Sago Mine disaster in January 2006, state and federal regulators have been mulling various proposals to toughen underground mine seal requirements.

In March 2007, lawmakers passed new seal construction requirements for West Virginia's coal industry. Last month, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration finalized its new federal seal rules, as required by Congress in the 2006 MINER Act.

Under state law, issuance of the final MSHA rule gave Wooten 30 days to report to Manchin about whether more state changes were needed, based on the federal rule.

MSHA issued its final rule on April 18, so Wooten's report to the governor is due by Sunday.

Wooten said that he doesn't want to make those recommendations until his agency conducts a new round of explosion tests later this month.

State officials are exploring the option for mine operators to pile up mining debris and additional material - probably blasted away from the mine roof - just inside underground seals. This technique is called "explosion wave mitigation." Basically, the wall of rock and dirt would be expected to absorb an explosion and help protect the seals.

State officials expect to miss a deadline next week to report to Gov. Joe Manchin about the adequacy of West Virginia's new rules governing underground coal-mine seals.

Ronald Wooten, director of the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training, said his agency needs more time to test alternative ways to make seals explosion proof.

"We're not going to make our deadline to make recommendations to the governor," Wooten said Monday. "We're continuing to study the issue. We'll have recommendations later in the summer."

Since the Sago Mine disaster in January 2006, state and federal regulators have been mulling various proposals to toughen underground mine seal requirements.

In March 2007, lawmakers passed new seal construction requirements for West Virginia's coal industry. Last month, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration finalized its new federal seal rules, as required by Congress in the 2006 MINER Act.

Under state law, issuance of the final MSHA rule gave Wooten 30 days to report to Manchin about whether more state changes were needed, based on the federal rule.

MSHA issued its final rule on April 18, so Wooten's report to the governor is due by Sunday.

Wooten said that he doesn't want to make those recommendations until his agency conducts a new round of explosion tests later this month.

State officials are exploring the option for mine operators to pile up mining debris and additional material - probably blasted away from the mine roof - just inside underground seals. This technique is called "explosion wave mitigation." Basically, the wall of rock and dirt would be expected to absorb an explosion and help protect the seals.

During a public comment period last year, Wooten urged MSHA to consider allowing this technique in its final nationwide rule.

MSHA declined. Agency officials said that these methods "may not provide effective protection" for miners, especially when an explosion causes a series of blast waves to move through the mine.

"Most wave mitigation techniques are designed for a one-time use, after which they do not offer any quantifiable resistance to explosion overpressure," MSHA said in its final rule. "While wave mitigation methods are not discouraged by MSHA, wave mitigation alone cannot be used to meet the requirements of the standard."

But Wooten said Monday that MSHA considered only techniques that used bags of rock dust or water as explosion wave mitigation, not the "shields" of mine debris the state wants to test.

So far, Wooten said, computer modeling has shown that the state's proposed method could reduce blast forces from more than 600 pounds per square inch to between 100 and 140 pounds per square inch before a blast hits the underground seals.

Mine seals are widespread, with estimates ranging into the thousands at hundreds of mines across the coalfields.

Throughout the 1990s, regulators said and did little about them, despite a series of lightning-induced explosions in sealed areas of mines in Alabama and West Virginia.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.