CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The federal government is offering mine safety grants to states and nonprofits.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has $1.25 million available for the Brookwood-Sago grants program. Aug. 31 is the deadline to apply for the funding.
States and nonprofits can use the funding to identify and prevent unsafe working conditions in and around underground mines.
The grants are named after the men who died in two explosions at the Jim Walter Resources mine in Brookwood, Ala., in 2001 and the men who died after an explosion at the Sago mine in West Virginia in 2006. The program grew out of a 2006 law co-authored by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller.
Rockefeller, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and Rep. Nick Rahall announced the grants on Monday.
