It's kind of like what happened at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in August, only the poles were pillars of coal, and the roof came crashing down with the weight of a mountain behind it - with deadly results.

In the aftermath of the twin tragedies at the mine in Emery County, which killed nine men and injured six, Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett are wisely seeking $1 million in federal funds to pay for an in-depth study of the type of mining that contributed to the disaster.

It's known as retreat mining, a dangerous method used to recover as much coal as possible from otherwise played-out mines. The coal that helps form the structural support system for the mine is removed, allowing the roof to collapse as the miners work their way back, or "retreat," toward the mine entrance.

For decades, retreat mining has been conducted with relative safety in the East, where miners plumb shallow coal seams with minimal overburden. But less is known about the practice in the West, where mining is conducted thousands of feet underground and the weight of the mountains bring incredible pressures to bear.

If approved as part of a spending bill for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor, the Hatch and Bennett amendment would provide funds to examine the use of retreat mining at depths exceeding 1,500 feet, with a goal of finding ways to make it safe. Officials at the University of Utah and West Virginia University would partner with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct the much-needed study.

Congress should support the amendment, and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration should put a moratorium on retreat-mining permits in the West until the results are in.

Hopefully, researchers will find a way to safely conduct retreat mining, which prevents waste and preserves jobs by extending the life of older mines. If the study hits pay dirt, federal mine safety officials should move quickly to incorporate their safety recommendations into regulations, and enforce them without fail. If not, retreat mining should be banned in Western deep mines before more lives are lost.