WV mine explosion foretold by safety violations

The owners of the Sago mine in Tallmansville, W.Va., vowed to investigate not only the cause of the explosion which trapped 13 men deep underground, two miles from the pithead, but also how the families of those miners, who were gathered at Sago Baptist Church awaiting news of their loved ones, had been so terribly misled to believe that 12 of the men had survived. Why, relatives demanded, were the church bells allowed to ring for a full three hours in celebration, although officials knew something was badly wrong? Mine officials admitted they knew something was wrong just 20 minutes after the celebration began and yet they declined to make a clarifying announcement for three more hours. "People were here to celebrate," said Lynette Robey, who had gone to the church with her two young children after it was reported that 12 of the 13 had survived. "Everybody went into the church for what would be a wonderful event. When we came in, they had been celebrating for three hours. How could no one have stopped to say there's an error or something? That would have been the proper, compassionate thing to do." Families linked arms as they waited, expecting the men would soon be brought to the surface. Police cars and emergency vehicles sounded their sirens and people were punching the air and cheering. The state governor, Joe Manchin, was seen on the steps of the church giving the thumbs-up sign. "Miracles do happen," he announced. But, less than three hours later, rumors started to spread that something was wrong and that perhaps the 12 men had not been saved. Then, at 3:11am, Ben Hatfield, the mine company's president, entered the church and told relatives he had more news. "He said he took total responsibility for the error and there had been a miscommunication," said Robey, who sat in the second row of the church. "There were screams of 'Liar, liar'. People called him a hypocrite. There were some bad words. He said things did not turn out as they were reported. Then he almost shouted, 'There's only one who's made it; the others are dead'." Robey said scuffles broke out in the church, and state troopers had to protect Hatfield from the friends and relatives. At least one person lunged at him. The pastor tried to calm people and urged them, in their despair, to put their faith in God. One man reportedly shouted: "What in the hell has God ever done for us?" Long list of violations The Sago coal mine in Upshur County, W.Va., where the miners were killed has a history of serious safety violations. Yet, according to government records, the mine's owners have escaped significant fines. Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has cut funding and staff at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the federal agency in charge of enforcing the nation's mine safety laws. The Bush administration has eliminated 170 jobs at MSHA and proposed to cut the MSHA budget in fiscal year 2006 by some $4.9 million in real dollar terms. United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union leaders and other job safety advocates say the nation's mine safety is compromised by the Bush administration's emphasis on voluntary compliance with safety rules–in contrast with previous administrations, which have favored strong enforcement. Safety advocates also say the close coal industry ties of Bush administration appointees to MSHA leadership positions have further weakened the MSHA's commitment to safety enforcement. Bush has appointed former senior executives from Peabody Energy, AMAX Inc., the American Mining Congress, Cyprus Minerals Co. and other such companies to high-ranking posts within MSHA. The Sago Mine is owned by the International Coal Group, which purchased it last year from Anker West Virginia Mining Co. In 2005, MSHA inspectors cited operators for more than 200 safety violations at the mine, including ventilation, roof support, escape-way and pre-shift safety exam violations. Improper equipment maintenance and fire-suppression equipment violations were also prevalent at Sago over the past two years. Yet the agency collected just $24,000 in fines or about $115 per violation. A single November 2005 inspection netted five separate violations of mine-roof regulations, including a $440 fine for failing to properly vent methane, a highly explosive gas, and dust particles. In a search of data dating to the beginning of 2004, such ventilation fines reappear frequently and account for many of the larger fines. In addition, 16 violations logged in the past eight months were listed as "unwarrantable failures," a designation reserved for serious safety infractions for which the operator had either already been warned, or which showed "indifference or extreme lack of care," said Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA senior adviser. "That is a very high number, and it is usually indicative of a very poor safety record," Oppegard said. According to the most-recent complete national data, MSHA issued 64,635 citations in 2004 for a total of $17 million at mines throughout the nation. Of those, just 59 were for amounts the administration terms "high-dollar," meaning $10,000 or more, with the largest fine being $38,500. As of press time, only three of those 59 fines had been paid, for a total of $33,300. "The bitter truth is that this tragedy was not a surprise–both because the mine had a disturbing safety record, and because the Bush administration in Washington has been undercutting mine safety," the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette wrote in a Jan. 5 editorial. UMWA President Cecil Roberts says MSHA's on-the-ground inspectors and other safety professionals try to enforce mine safety rules and protect miners but are sometimes stymied by the Bush administration's change in enforcement policy that emphasizes voluntary compliance over strict enforcement. "We are concerned that MSHA has gone from a safety enforcement agency to a compliance consulting firm," Roberts says. UMWA mine rescue teams were some of the first on the scene and took part in the rescue attempts. The Sago miners were not members of UMWA. The lone survivor of the mine disaster, Randy McCloy Jr., 27, is undergoing treatment for the effects of oxygen deprivation and dehydration. McCloy has a collapsed lung and is undergoing dialysis.