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America's coal industry is plagued by growing numbers of death and injuries linked to company negligence and safety infractions. An examination of the worst U.S. mining disaster in 17 years, which killed 13 Alabama miners on Sept. 23, 2001, found unsafe practices, poor emergency planning and lax enforcement by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. In the underground mines of the Appalachian coal cradle, the Tribune found rising unwarrantable failure to follow mine safety laws; coal mine operators who knowingly broke safety laws faced few consequences from a hamstrung federal enforcement system.