They are resuming rescue efforts undergrond in W VA

[nadinbrzezinski]

and this is starting to look like a recovery mission.

RIP

Oh and MSNBC

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. On explosive mixtures

this is very basic, but certain gas mixtures will go off very easily. You want to avoid having them

The Nitrogen actually helps to lower that risk... but I sure am gonna wish these rescue workers all the best in the world. Once you start having to play with those, the level of risk for rescue personnel goes up by levels of magnitude. And yes I am keeping it very simple ON PURPOSE.

[backscatter712]

6. I'm not an expert...

but my guess is that the nitrogen displaces the oxygen down there, making it less likely for methane to ignite, but at the same time making the atmosphere less breathable, since humans don't work on nitrogen - they need oxygen.

But yeah, I'd say the odds of finding survivors down there is very slim - if the explosion didn't kill them, the high levels of methane probably asphyxiated them. Maybe they found their way to one of those emergency airtight shelters, which have oxygen bottles in them that would last for several days, but IIRC, they're probably running out...

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Exactly and I haven't done this in years

and NEVER ever mine rescue.

My tingly just went through the roof when I heard what they were doing.

[gateley]

2. So sad. This never should have happened. I'm so sorry for those people.

During WWII my dad was a flight surgeon in the Navy, and they sent him to check on the conditions of coal mines somewhere (I THINK in the South). I don't know many details, but I remember him saying he was horrified and heartbroken at the conditions these people endured. One would have hoped conditions had improved more than they have. I am so furious that, for the almighty dollar, the owners of this mine (and I'm sure they're not the only mine) dismissed safety precautions.

RIP

[Petrushka]

3. Within the last hour or so, a report from Associated Press indicated that "...more air testing

would be needed before rescue teams could head back into a West Virginia coal mine Thursday night
to look for four miners missing since an explosion killed 25 workers." <snip>


So, I went to the MSNBC site, and found:

Crews still waiting to resume mine search

Updated 1 hour ago

MONTCOAL, W.Va. - A federal safety official said more air testing was needed before rescue teams could head back into a West Virginia mine to look for four miners missing since an explosion killed 25 workers. Late Thursday night, federal coal safety ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36183425/ns/us_news-life/



:cry:

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. MSNBC breaks and tells us that they are resuming

technically they are, adding the Nitrogen to the air mixture lessens risk, but to most people that will not sound like it.

[Petrushka]

8. Thank you for the update. I don't understand what's happening, but . . .

. . . my prayers are with the missing miners as well as
the rescue teams.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Only reaosn I do is all that confined space and HAZMAT training

in another life.

:-)

And yes this looks more and more like a recovery effort, but they heard the presser and tried to paraphrase what they heard.

[Petrushka]

12. Thank you again! Trying to keep up with what's happening down there is difficult . . .

. . . and my brother (a retired UMWA miner who pretty much
keeps things to himself) just sent me an e-mail with a
link to articles about the 1924 mine explosion in Benwood
WV that killed 119 men (one of our grandfathers among the
dead, a grandfather we never knew) and I'm remembering how
old-timers, who were children back then, told and re-told us
stories about what they saw and heard and felt that day and
in the days that followed. And I'm thinking: Hopefully, for
the sake of future West Virginians, today's dead miners'
children won't forget.

Forgive me for rambling. I need sleep.

[Webster Green]

4. Because the asshole mine owner bought judges instead of ventilation.

If this mutherfucker doesn't go to prison, there is no justice at all. :mad:

[Electric Monk]

10. Gave a million bucks to the teabagger partiers too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8098346

[backscatter712]

13. Exactly. On top of imprisoning Blankenship, bring back the corporate death penalty.

Massey needs to have its corporate charter revoked, all its assets seized and auctioned, its stockholders left with zero! Do that to a couple companies that misbehave as Massey did, and the shareholders will be joining the coal miners and their families with torches and pitchforks, demanding the heads of people like Blankenship on a pike!

[GrpCaptMandrake]

11. MSHA has been begging . . .

for the nitrogen for DAYS now. Blankenship said "No."

And he will NOT be prosecuted and he will NOT go to prison, and as quick as the camera crews pack up, America will forget Montcoal ever happened.

Unless . . .

Unless we decide otherwise; unless we pay attention to that goddamned light switch and the cheap steel garbage on sale at the local WallyWorld.

The men at Upper Big Branch died for a Chinese lawnmower that was $25 "cheaper" at WalMart and because ignorant-as-shit Americans walk out of empty, well-lighted rooms.

Turn the goddamned lights off when you leave the room, America. There's a dead miner behind that switch.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Color me surprised

[MountainLaurel]

15. Thank you for pointing that out

The one thing I have not heard mentioned when talking about the coal industry this week is the role that American wastefulness plays in demand.

May I borrow that last line? I think I may have to Tweet it.

[Bluzmann57]

16. There is a chance that Blankenship may be prosecuted on federal charges

After all, MSHA is a federal organization and does have a right to press federal charges against Blankenship. If that happens, he will not beat the rap. MSHA is taking some heat for this and I believe that they may want to deflect some of it away from the agency and toward him. As I have stated in here, I work at an MSHA governed facility and know a little about the laws and regs of MSHA, although admittedly, I am not an underground miner.