Hillarysworld

Sanders · Diamond

Coal Mine disaster in WV

Building 4112 · Moderator

I am so sadden for all those miners and their families. Tragic. And I'll tell you those people
loved Hillary, I can't tell you how many phone calls were so positive from them.

Sanders · Diamond

Building 4112, yes, I recall WV calls like it was just today. The people were genuinely friendly and would even be willing to walk around their neighborhood and gather people to go vote for Hillary. Very pro-Hillary people.

It is a very sad day. Just now, I woke up to check on news but doesnt look like there is much progress in the darkness of the night. I continue to keep some hope but the methane fumes down there is likely very bad. Very sad day. My heart goes out to the families of not just those who perished and those missing but all the mineworker families. I cannot imagine sending a loved one out to the mines every day on any ordinary day let alone on the heels of this.

Sanders · Diamond

This is just terrible news.

Source link to WVMetroNews.com

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'Our Miners Did Not Suffer'

MetroNews, Montcoal, Raleigh County

It is now a recovery mission.

"I'm sorry that we didn't have a chance to rescue the miners," Mine Safety and Health Administration Coal Administrator Kevin Stricklin said early Saturday morning as he announced the death toll from the Upper Big Branch Mine Explosion had climbed to 29.

Late Friday night, mine rescue crews confirmed that none of the underground mine rescue chambers at the UBB Mine hadbeen deployed.

"We have a total of 29 brave miners that we're recovering at this time," Governor Joe Manchin announced at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. "None of our miners suffered."

The bodies of the four coal miners who had been unaccounted for since the powerful explosion in the mine back on Monday were found in the areas where officials believed they would be located.

Stricklin says they were all killed instantly. "None of the 22 miners underground had the chance to use their SCSRs (self contained self rescuers)."

A lack of visibility because of dust and debris, Stricklin says, likely lead mine rescue teams to bypass the four bodies that had been unaccounted for during their initial trip into the UBB Mine immediately after the explosion earlier this week.

The last attempt to get into the mine, one that started on Friday afternoon, was the only one to get as far as those mine rescue teams in the first attempt.

Work to remove the bodies of the 22 miners still in the mine began as soon as all of the miners had been accounted for. Fifteen teams were working to recover the bodies, work that was expected to wrap up by Saturday night.

It is not an easy task.

"It's hard to turn a rescue into a recovery with the same group of people and ask them, after they've work hard to try to rescue someone, to start carrying bodies," Stricklin said.

"There's a lot of debris. There's no equipment to use right now to transport the bodies, so it's going to be a lot of hand carrying for long distances."

The bodies will be taken to the state Medical Examiner's Office in Charleston for autopsies.

Governor Manchin says the families of those killed knew that finding survivors was a very, very long shot.

"We never, never would give them any false hopes at how difficult this was, but you still had that little sliver of hope that somebody could have gotten to a shelter," the Governor said in an interview with MetroNews.

Two miners were injured in Monday's blast. They were among the nine miners who were immediately brought out of the UBB Mine on Monday. One of those miners has been released from the hospital at this point. The condition of the other is not known.

The explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine is the worst mining disaster in the United States in the past more than 25 years.

"Quite frankly, the only thing good that can come out of this is to educate everyone, put regulations in place if needed, to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Stricklin said.

"

Very very sad.

Can you just imagine going to work to total darkness with head torch every day, coming back home to lit up home - no sunlight in their life especially in winter. And then, they perish in this. This is enough to push a lot of families in WV into deeply depressed state. The state must worry about all coalminers' and their families mental health in the aftermath of this.

Credit where due, I think Gov.Joe Manchim did a good job.

Sanders · Diamond

Sen.Byrd spoke up on the topic.

Read @ WVMetroNews.com

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'I Am Sick, I Am Saddened And I Am Angry'

MetroNews, Washington, D.C. 4/9/10

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. issued the following statements in response to media inquiries on a number of topics relating to the mining disaster in West Virginia:

“While the situation on the ground this morning (Friday) is not as encouraging as we had hoped, my prayers continue for those who have lost their loved ones, and for the safe return of the four missing miners and those mine rescue team members who are also risking their lives to save their fellow West Virginians.”

“It is infuriating that in this day and age, and in this country, that such a disaster could still happen. I am sick. I am saddened and I am angry. We have the laws. We have the resources. These tragedies, on this scale, should no longer be happening.”

“Once we learn the cause of this disaster and investigations are completed whether it is wrongdoing by Massey, lack of enforcement by MSHA, or inadequacies with the mine health and safety laws, including the MINER Act of 2006, action will need to be taken.”

LEGISLATIVE CHANGES

“It is premature to say what changes in laws or regulations may be needed until the investigation is underway. But I have called for a reexamination of the health and safety laws that have been put into place and what more may need to be done to avoid future loss of life.”

“I have received a commitment from Senator Tom Harkin, who is a true friend of the coal miner, and who Chairs both the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS), that a Senate hearing will occur on this overwhelming mining disaster. This will be in addition to the hearings in the House of Representatives that were requested by my West Virginia colleague, Congressman Nick J. Rahall. The House hearings will occur in the House Education and Labor Committee.”

MASSEY RESPONSE

“This has been one of Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s comments following this tragic mining disaster: ‘Violations are unfortunately a normal part of the mining process. There are violations at every coal mine in America, and (the Upper Big Branch Mine) was a mine that had violations.’” (Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-04-08-editorial08_ST1_N.htm.)

“Well for this Senator, the more I learn about the extent of these violations by Massey at the Upper Big Branch Mine alone, the angrier I get. 57 citations in the month of March alone! Closed over 60 times during the past two years to correct problems!”

“To me, one thing is clear – for a company that has had this number of violations at just one coal mine - one must seriously begin to question the practices and procedures of this particular coal company and it needs the most serious scrutiny from the Congress and the federal regulators.”

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION FUNDING

“Through my efforts as the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have been able to increase funding for coal enforcement from $117 million in Fiscal Year 2006, to $159 million in Fiscal Year 2010 – a 36 percent increase. In June 2006, the Senate Appropriations Committee directed MSHA to hire 170 new coal inspectors. Since then, with the funding I have secured, MSHA has hired 444 coal enforcement personnel, including 119 in West Virginia – increasing the number of inspectors and specialists from 568 in January 2006, to 748 in March 2010. I will continue to examine the funding needs of MSHA as this investigation moves forward.”

“Media reports have stated that ‘Safety officials warned Congress three months ago that the backlog of violations could undermine a crackdown on repeat offenders. A backlog of some 82,000 violations and $210 million in contested penalties is pending before a review commission. In 2009, companies protested roughly two-thirds of the $141 million in penalties assessed by federal regulators.’”

“I secured additional funding in the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations bill for the Solicitor of Labor and Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) to help litigate the fines. President Obama’s budget request for FY 2011 builds on that funding, and I am currently examining whether more funding is needed to help shorten the amount of time to litigate these fines.

The FMSHRC budget increased by $1.7 million in FY 2010 and the Solicitor budget has increased by $28 million in last two years. And at my request, the Appropriations Committee has urged the Department of Labor to use additional resources to litigate mine safety penalties.

“In addition, I have secured $4 million in the last two years to increase spot inspections to enforce dust control limits. This is necessary to reduce the risk of explosions and black lung.”

MARSH FORK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

“Marsh Fork Elementary School sits at the foot of a Massey Energy mountaintop mining site which includes a pond that holds back hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic coal slurry. Since the Upper Big Branch Mine site is in close proximity to the Massey Energy mountaintop mining site, I inquired as to whether the stability of the impoundment lot could have been compromised as a result of the mine explosion.”

“According to information I received from the Department of Labor, the slurry impoundment, located above the Marsh Fork Elementary School, was inspected on Wednesday and determined by inspectors to 'be fine.'”

"

Why in the world do they have a school on that soil? Is there no other available site? WV really ought to relocate that school.