6 Dead, 21 Missing In W.Va. Mine Blast

[RamboLiberal]

Source: KDKA TV Pittsburgh

The state mine director says six miners are dead and 21 missing following a West Virginia coal mine explosion.

Ron Wooten says initial reports are that the explosion occurred about 3 p.m. at Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. mine in Raleigh County, about 30 miles south of Charleston.

Emergency crews are heading to the mine that is located near Montcalm.

Massey Energy reported the explosion but did not provide details.

Wooten says he has yet to talk with anyone at the mine.


Read more: http://kdka.com/national/west.virginia.coal.2.1613053.html

---

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A large number of West Virginia coal miners are feared dead or missing this evening following an explosion this afternoon at a Massey Energy underground mine in Raleigh County.

Emergency crews are still responding this evening to the incident, which initial reports indicate occurred at about 3 p.m.

Agency director Ron Wooten said his agency is still assessing the incident, which occurred at Massey subsidiary Performance Coal's Upper Big Branch Mine-South near Namoa.

"We have received information that there are several unaccounted for, perhaps as many as 21," Wooten said in a phone interview. "We have received a report that there are six fatalities."

State officials have not confirmed the numbers, but Gov. Joe Manchin -- who was out of town on a personal trip -- was preparing to return to the state, said spokesman Matt Turner.

http://www.wvgazette.com/latest/201004050545

Damn, what a shame and coming on the good news of the mine rescue in China. Still a damn dangerous job.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Yes, I thought this was going to be a 'good news' day for miners. Fingers crossed. nt

[CBR]

2. Oh no.... how awful....

:-(

[Aristus]

3. The Clown Prince's second official act as pResident was to gut funding for the Mine Safety

Administration.

Did President Obama ever restore proper funding to the agency? I know he's got a lot on his plate right now...

[Tansy_Gold]

11. Apparently Obama and Secy of Labor Solis did make changes

from an item originally posted in the Week-End Economists thread (thank you Demeter!)


http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=03&year=2010&base_name=hopeychangey_at_the_department

Over at The Nation, Esther Kaplan profiles Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and finds that she has done a pretty remarkable job returning the Labor Department to -- get this -- advancing the interests of working people. It's in large part a product of personnel. For instance, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is now not headed by a former mining-company executive whose goal is to free mining companies from safety regulations, as is usually the case during Republican administrations. Solis has put in place a cadre of tough, experienced advocates for worker safety, fair pay practices, and real enforcement of labor laws. But it's also a matter of how aggressive you're willing to be. And it seems that Solis is working overtime (!) to undo what George W. Bush's administration wrought:




Emphasis added by


Tansy Gold

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

22. Mine companies have been appealing cases endlessly, creating enforcement backlog

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/02/24/1153739/cause-of-mine-backlog-debated.html

[davidhilton]

34. Who's the Clown Prince?

[MrsBrady]

35. g w bush

slang term

[katandmoon]

4. How very tragic. I wonder how many safety regs were being ignored by "management."

[cmd]

5. As a daughter of a former underground miner, my heart goes out to the miners

and, of course, their families. This is something we all dread.
Keep those miners safe until they can be rescued.

[Submariner]

12. TV shows Alaska crab fishing as a dangerous occupation

From the history of coal mining disasters in the Appalachian region that I have seen over the decades, coal mining would be my pick as a much more dangerous job, short-term from on-the-job hazards, and long-term from the health consequences.

[spinbaby]

6. This is Massey Energy

Look up their CEO, Don Blankenship. He's a piece of work.

[starroute]

14. Here's one place to start with Blankenship

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/31633524/the_climate_killers/12

In an age when most CEOs are canny enough to at least pay lip service to the realities of climate change, Blankenship stands apart as corporate America's most unabashed denier. Global warming, he insists, is nothing but "a hoax and a Ponzi scheme." His fortune depends on such lies: Massey Energy, the nation's fourth-largest coal-mining operation, unearths more than 40 million tons of the fossil fuel each year — often by blowing the tops off of Appalachian mountains.

The country's highest-paid coal executive, Blankenship is a villain ripped straight from the comic books: a jowly, mustache-sporting, union-busting coal baron who uses his fortune to bend politics to his will. He recently financed a $3.5 million campaign to oust a state Supreme Court justice who frequently ruled against his company, and he hung out on the French Riviera with another judge who was weighing an appeal by Massey. "Don Blankenship would actually be less powerful if he were in elected office," Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia once observed. "He would be twice as accountable and half as feared."

On the national level, Blankenship enjoys a position of influence on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has led the fight to kill climate legislation. He enjoys inveighing against the "greeniacs" — including Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Al Gore — who are "taking over the world." And he has even taken to tweeting about climate change: "We must demand that more coal be burned to save the Earth from global cooling."

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

20. Blankenship paid to Hannity and Nugent to come to W.Va. last fall

to speak at his rally against environmental and safety regulations

[Enrique]

38. Blankenship is a great American

[Omaha Steve]

7. See this post from yesterday in LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4332404

K&R!

[get the red out]

8. Just awful!

Those poor people and their families. Both my Grandfathers were miners here in Kentucky. It's dangerous hard work.

[Codeine]

9. Coal Event. nt

[Haole Girl]

10. Are the missing ones trapped?

:shrug:

[theHandpuppet]

13. Their status is unknown

Latest from CNN: 7 dead, 21 injured, 19 missing.

[hollowdweller]

15. They say 7 dead now

Poor folks.


Massey.

[liberal N proud]

16. Oh, man, we just drove very near there today, not more than 2 hrs before it happened

Prayers for those miners and their families.

[Petrushka]

17. K & R

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

18. The mine is run by Sarah Palin's new friend, corrupt mountaintop removal kingpin Don Blankenship

Blankenship has been trying to buy a congressional seat in the area for his scandal-plagued GOP friend Spike Maynard.
The seat, currently held by Democrat Nick Rahall, was one of Sarah's targets in her 'crosshairs' campaign. Sarah's planning a WV visit to campaign for Maynard and Blankenship this fall.

[hollowdweller]

21. I'll be voting for Rahall thanks.

It would be a total travesty to put Maynard in. I already have Plymale as my state senator and he's a Buck Harless crony. (and NEVER responds to his constituents letters or emails!!!)

[bushalert]

19. Massey is virulently non-union / virulently UNSAFE!!!!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

23. Blankenship became Massey CEO by busting unions and attacking them as "terrorists"

as this video from the 80s shows

http://appalshop.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=196

[Lyric]

24. Up to 12 dead now. Ten are still trapped inside the mine.

[Petrushka]

26. "Accident one of deadliest in US in years" --->

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0620047320100406?type=marketsNews

[Petrushka]

32. 25 dead --- rescue operations suspended

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/06/west.virginia.mine.explosion/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

25. Massey was warned of danger, fought enforcement of safety

typical Blankenship. he instead chose to spend his money bringing in rightwing celebrities to rail against federal regulations

AP:

"MSHA officials didn’t yet know what caused the blast, but federal records say the Eagle coal seam releases up to 2 million cubic feet of methane gas into the mine every 24 hours, which is a large amount, said Dennis O’Dell, health and safety director for the United Mine Workers labor union.

Methane is one of the great dangers of coal mining. The colorless, odorless gas is often sold to American consumers to heat homes and cook meals. In mines, giant fans are used to keep methane concentrations below certain levels. In 2006, 12 miners died in a methane explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. If concentrations are allowed to reach between 5 percent and 15 percent, the gas can explode with a spark roughly similar to the static charge created by walking across a carpet in winter.

In the past year, federal inspectors have cited Massey and fined the company more than $382,000 for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment at the mine run by subsidiary Performance Coal Co. The violations also cover failing to follow the plan, allowing combustible coal dust to pile up, and having improper firefighting equipment."

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x1663056421/6-dead-21-missing-in-W-Va-coal-mine-blast

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

27. Inspectors say conditions at Massey mine posed significant risks

Source: Charleston Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Safety inspectors concluded as recently as last month that conditions at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine posed substantial and significant risks to miner well-being before a Monday explosion killed at least 12 miners and trapped nearly 10.

In March alone, U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration officials cited the mine, which is owned by Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co., for failing to control dust; improperly planning to ventilate the mine of dust and the combustible gas methane; inadequate protection from roof falls; failing to maintain proper escapeways; and allowing the accumulation of combustible materials.

Since 1995, there have been more than 3,000 violations at Upper Big Branch, though it was not immediately clear how that compared to other mines of its size.

Of the $1.5 million in penalties MSHA proposed since 2007, Massey has actually paid less than $300,000.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/201004060029

---

and if this is how West Virginia's extreme-rightwing paper is reporting it, you can imagine the situation is much, much worse in reality

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. There is a Mexican saying that applies to this

after the boy drowns, we close the hole.

That said, you are correct, but Massey has had issues at other places recently so probably they have burned their bridges. Also the right wing papers know when not to piss off the miners.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

29. Obama offers condolences and help after mine blast

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is offering his condolences and any help needed in the aftermath of a deadly explosion at a coal mine in southern West Virginia.

At least seven people died in the blast Monday at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, about 30 miles south of Charleston. Authorities say 19 others are missing.

Obama spoke Monday night to West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. The White House says in a statement that Obama offered his deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in the disaster.

The president also told Manchin that the federal government stands ready to offer whatever assistance is needed in the rescue effort.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6uIWq9FQzkCufHECJVhz6dkkhNgD9ET96EO2

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

30. BREAKING; Massey now confirms 25 dead

4 missing

[Withywindle]

31. I'm praying for them.

There is no such thing as "clean coal" by the tech we now have.

Either there's the underground kind that provides LOTS of extremely dangerous, long-term-poisoning jobs (if they're lucky; obviously sudden death happens often in that field), or the mountain-top destroying kind which provides very few jobs and only in the short term and destroys the land for generations to come, causing health problems and birth defects that will affect people long after all the people reading this post are gone.

I want the coal companies called on ALL their harmful practices. I want jobs for Appalachian people that don't involve either short- or long-term suicide, or any destruction of some of the oldest mountains in the world for the short-term gain of one or two generations of corporation-owners. Is that too much to ask?

[thelordofhell]

33. My dream episode of "Undercover Boss"

Is to have this asshole CEO Don Blankenship die in a mine explosion. Fuck this inhuman turd and all he stands for. The blood of these poor miners are all on his fucking hands. I hope he burns in hell.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Tansy_Gold]

36. Emile Zola's "Germinal"

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose


R.I.P.




Tansy Gold

[Odin2005]

37. kick...

[Ian David]

39. Coal Mine CEO Blankenship's Revealing Tweets

Coal Mine CEO Blankenship's Revealing Tweets
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8103900