One of the hottest topics within both rescue circles and within the pages of the MINER Act, the chambers will be placed in each of the operator’s mines in order to comply with recent Mine Safety and Health Administration guidelines outlining 96 hours of breathable air.

Company chief Ben Hatfield said that after evaluating what was available, it opted for the ChemBio LifeShelter that is manufactured by fellow West Virginia outfit AL Lee. The units “offered the best combination of safety, design and construction, ease of use and portability,” he said in a statement.

AL Lee said it was “pleased” that its inaugural order for the chambers came from ICG. “We appreciate the confidence that [the company] has placed in our LifeShelters,” president Leonard Urtso said Tuesday.

AL Lee announced its LifeShelter's had been approved by the West Virginia office of Miners Health Safety and Training per the requirements outlined in the West Virginia emergency code 56.4-8 on last week.

The LIfeShelter is approved for application in underground mines for use by 10-30 miners when built and provisioned as designed and providing a minimum 96 hours life support.

ICG is one of the first coal companies to order rescue chambers to install underground.

Massey Energy spokesman Jeff Gillenwater told International Longwall News Wednesday that the company is still reviewing and evaluating the available units and no decisions had yet been made. “We haven’t made any purchases,” he confirmed.

When the chosen units are ordered, however, he confirmed that they will be installed in all mines company-wide.

Both companies unwillingly had centre stage early last year as the respective owners of the Sago and Aracoma mines in West Virginia where a total of 14 workers died.