Circuit Judge Dan King issued the ruling last Wednesday and gave officials 10 days to conduct inspections.

Inspectors employed by the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations are supposed to inspect Alabama’s 50 coal mines every 45 days; however, only three inspectors are available to do the work and also have to check 500 mineral mines and quarries, Associated Press reported.

The order applies to two large underground coal mines and about 12 surface mines in an area west of Birmingham, the newspaper said. Some of Alabama’s mines are more than 2000 feet deep.

According to Associated Press, the Alabama Senate passed a resolution urging inspectors to conduct reviews and enforce laws but did not approve additional funding. A decline in state funding is blamed though the governor's office did recently provide an emergency appropriation of $US175,000 to hire two more inspectors.

King ordered the state to provide copies of mine inspection reports and to give mining companies a timetable for fixing any problems found. He also ordered the state department to investigate the use of communication devices, tracking devices and additional emergency oxygen units for all underground coal miners.

These latter rulings are linked with the new laws promulgated in West Virginia following the two recent disasters that killed 14 miners.

The next hearing is set for April 3.