"Underground Blast Traps West Virginia Miners"

[ocelot]

Underground blast traps West Virginia miners
Updated Tue. Jan. 3 2006 1:08 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The first of eight search and rescue teams have begun to enter the West Virginia coal mine where 13 miners are trapped 80 metres below ground.

"We have not yet been able to establish communications with these miners. But, of course, we continue," senior vice-president of the International Coal Group.

The mine is owned by Anker West Virginia Mining Co., which was recently purchased by International Coal Group, Inc.

Officials say the teams will drill a hole through a wall of debris to see if the trapped miners are alive.

They became trapped after an early morning explosion at the Sago mine on Monday.

The blast happened about three kilometres into the mine between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. local time, local officials said. The mine is about 160 km northeast from the state capital, Charleston.

"There was some type of explosion either heard or felt by the miners attempting to go in the mine for a shift change," Lara Ramsburg, spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Manchin, told The Associated Press. "They then backtracked out of the mine."

Judy Shackleford, sister of one of the miners, had this reaction: "To me, it was like they were all dead. That was my first thought. An explosion isn't fun. When you think explosion, you think everybody."

Four co-workers who were trying to reach the missing miners were forced to abandon their rescue efforts when they "came to a wall," said Steve Milligan, deputy director of Upshur County's Office of Emergency Management.

"There's always that possibility, that hope and that chance, they were able to go to a part of the mine that still has safe air," Manchin said.

Rescuers had to wait almost 12 hours for dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide to clear before they could enter the mine.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration also sent a rescue robot to the mine.

While it's not immediately clear what sparked the explosion, it's believed it may have been caused by a lightning strike.

"We don't have any indication that this was a methane related event at this time," said Nicholson.

The mine has had some alleged problems with workplace safety. Last month, inspectors slapped the mine with 46 alleged health and safety violations.

Monday's explosion is the state's worst mining accident since February 2003, when three contract workers died in a methane explosion at a Consol Energy Mine near Cameron.

In September 2001, 13 coal miners were killed in a series of explosions at a mine in Broached, Ala. Ten miners had rushed in to rescue co-workers wounded by a blast, only to be killed themselves by a second explosion.

That was the nation's worst mining accident since Dec. 19, 1984, when 27 coal miners died in a fire near Orangeville, Utah.

"Dealing with mines, you never know what will happen, so fear is something they live with," said Carmela Rice, neighbor of the some of the trapped men.

[ocelot]

W. Virginia Gov hopes for 'miracle' mine rescue
Updated Tue. Jan. 3 2006 2:48 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

With efforts to contact 13 trapped miners continuing to go unanswered, and tests confirming poisonous gas in the West Virginia mine, the state governor says rescuers are hoping for a "miracle."

West Virginians "believe in miracles," Gov. Joe Manchin said Tuesday.

"We still pray for miracles in West Virginia," he told reporters. "There is still a chance and there's hope and we have that."

His comments came as officials leading the rescue operation admitted that they were abandoning their previously conservative approach.

"We determined with the cooperation of state and federal agencies that we can move forward and at a quicker pace and do it safely," chief executive officer of mine owner International Coal Group Inc. Ben Hatfield said at a briefing shortly before noon on Tuesday.

To that end, officials abandoned plans to send a track-mounted robot into the mine, as they opted instead to continue the effort by hand.

Despite the intensifying search, Hatfield admitted officials overseeing the rescue operation are still not sure where in the Sago Mine to find the trapped miners.

Despite the uncertainty, Hatfield said, "I believe we have the smartest, most talented people in the industry working as hard as we can to get these people out safely."

Earlier in the morning, Hatfield had said he was "very discouraged" by air quality tests that measured soaring carbon monoxide levels.

"This carbon monoxide level far exceeds regulatory limits for respirable air ... " Hatfield said. But in his most recent update, he assured reporters that the carbon monoxide levels had not, in the time since, gone up significantly.

"There are no material changes in the gas levels at this point," he explained.

A camera has been also dropped through a 6 1/4 inch hole bored into the shaft where the miners are believed to be trapped, but Hatfield said a preliminary "visual search" was "inconclusive."

"No barricades or survivors were seen but there was also no evidence of substantial explosion damage to the installed equipment that was in view."

Still, Hatfield said they remained determined to continue "so long as there is hope and hope remains."

Hope is diminishing, however, after tests revealed

carbon monoxide levels of 1,300 parts per million -- far in excess of the 400 parts per million maximum level that sustains life.

There has been no contact made with the miners since the accident occurred Monday morning.

The mine was reopening after being closed for the holidays when the blast occurred shortly after 6:30 a.m., trapping the miners about 80 m underground and more than 3 km into the Sago Mine.

A fire boss went into the mine and declared it was safe to enter before the first group of miners entered at 5:51 a.m.

The second group of miners that went in at 6:30 a.m., just before power went out in the mine, withdrew after feeling the effects of the explosion.

Though the cause of the explosion has not been officially confirmed, a spokeswoman for West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said earlier that it may have been sparked by lightning.

Rescue teams entered the mine more than 11 hours after the blast.

They were prevented from entering the mine for most of Monday because of hazardously high levels of carbon monoxide, indicating there had been combustion after the blast.

As well, drilling teams that had initially planned to begin work Monday night could not begin until early Tuesday because they had to establish the best location.

The crews took their time in setting up the drill because it was "critical that the start of this be done very accurately," Gene Kitts, a senior vice president for mine owner International Coal Group Inc., said.

Officials are hopeful the experienced miners will rely on their training to alert rescuers of their location.

"This is not a rookie crew underground," Kitts said. "So we're just trusting that their training and their mining instincts have kicked in immediately."

The miners are equipped with individual air purifying systems that provide them with up to seven hours of clean air, Tim McGee, who works at the mine, told The Associated Press.

However, Hatfield reassured reporters that the air is breathable without the help of a breathing apparatus even about 2.8 km into the mine.

When asked why the miners wouldn't just walk out if the air quality was acceptable, Hatfield said they had been trained to barricade themselves in an area with clean air and wait for rescuers if they thought they could be in danger.

Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas.

The danger increases in the winter months, when the barometric pressure can release the odourless, colourless and highly flammable gas.

ICG acquired the Sago Mine last March when it bought Anker West Virginia Mining Co., which had been in bankruptcy. The mine, which is located about 160 km northeast of Charleston, had annual production of about 800,000 tons of coal and employs about 130 people.

During an 11-week review that ended Dec. 22, federal inspectors cited the mine for 46 alleged violations of federal mine health and safety rules, according to records.

The more serious alleged violations involved steps for safeguarding against roof falls, and the mine's plan to control methane and breathable dust.

The state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training issued 144 notices of violation against the mine in 2005, up from 74 the year before, The Associated Press reported.

Kitts defended safety at the mine, saying it has seen dramatic improvements since ICG took over.

"We think that we are operating a safe mine," he said. "We have no real clue about what triggered this explosion or what happened today."

[ocelot]

I find this really sad. I'm praying for a miracle also.

[shavonfan]

"Dealing with mines, you never know what will happen, so fear is something they live with," said Carmela Rice, neighbor of the some of the trapped men.

A co-worker of mine who comes from West Virginia and used to be a coal-miner himself said that living with danger, fear and the possibility that something tragic could happen was a daily routine. These people look death in the eye every time they go to work because there are so many things that can happen at any given moment. Even without the violations mentioned in this case, there is always the unknown. It is amazing to me that men and women continue in such a profession. Imagine how much stress it must put on the entire family! Very sad. I'll be praying as well.

[ocelot]

Celebration turns to anguish for miners' families
CTV.ca News

Hours after families celebrated the news that 12 of 13 miners were alive, they were rocked with grief as word came that only one miner survived an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine.

Ben Hatfield, president of the mine's owner International Coal Group Inc., told a news conference that reports there were survivors at the Sago Mine in Tallmansville was a "miscommunication."

"Because we were all looking for good information, and anxious to share good information, someone with good intentions took that bad information and spread it to friends and passers-by and it quickly got out of control," he said.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who earlier hailed the rescue as a miracle, apologized for the mistaken information.

"About the confusion, I can't tell you of anything more heartwrenching that I have gone through in my life. Nothing," he said.

"He strictly told us they were alive," Anna Canto told CNN. "Then three hours later he came back ... we got our hopes built up and you just don't do that to people."

"I feel like I've been lied to," Sam Lance, the brother- in-law of one of the dead miners, told CNN. "This is the worst thing I've ever been through.

"Everyone is stunned right now."

Anne Meredith, whose father died in the incident, said she planned to sue International Coal Group.


'Emotional roller coaster'

CNN's Christopher King told CTV's Canada AM the families of the miners have been on an "emotional roller coaster."

"Of course they were given some information that conflicted with later information. They didn't understand why they were kept in the dark for so long," he said, reporting from the scene at Tallmansville.

"We heard reports they were kept in the dark for about four hours and were celebrating for three our four hours and later told this horrifying information," King said.

"So of course you can imagine how that would cause tempers to boil over."

When news came that the miners had survived their horrific ordeal, church bells rung out and families rejoiced in celebration for some three hours before they were notified of the grim truth.

Hatfield denied ICG had confirmed the initial report of survivors, and said he didn't want to assign blame to the rescue team.

Cellphone calls overheard

Hatfield claimed the initial report spread quickly as people overheard cellphone calls between rescuers and the rescue command centre.

Calling it the "worst day of my life," Hatfield admitted to reporters that officials from the company knew within 20 minutes the information was incorrect. But for reasons unknown the company waited almost three hours to correct the erroneous report until it learned more details about the rescue.

As a result, news networks were reporting the incorrect information for quite some time and many newspapers went to press with headlines celebrating the apparent rescue.

At least two family members in the church told reporters they received phone calls from a mine foreman.

Hatfield explained that in reality, rescuers had confirmed finding 12 miners and were checking their vital signs.

"This is certainly not the outcome that we had hoped for and prayed for," said Hatfield.

"There was a great deal of confusion between the rescue teams ... the information got misinterpreted or miscommunicated."

The initial report was also confirmed by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin.

"They told us they have 12 alive," said Manchin. "We have some people that are going to need some medical attention."

As word buzzed through the church that had became a sanctuary since the ordeal began, Manchin said he tried to find confirm the news.

"All of a sudden we heard the families in a euphoric state, and all the shouting and screaming and joyfulness, and I asked my detachments, I said, 'Do you know what's happening?' Because we were wired in and we didn't know," Manchin said.

Manchin said the delay in informing relatives came because officials were trying to get accurate information instead of further adding to the confusion.

Chaos erupts among victims' families

The Associated Press reports that chaos broke out in the church and a fight erupted among families of the victims upon word there was only one survivor.

Meanwhile, about a dozen state troopers and a SWAT team have been deployed along the road near the church to quell further violence.

The only survivor is Randal McCloy Jr., 27, who is reported to be in critical but stable condition.

Hatfield said the miners, who were found about 13,000 feet underground, had built a "rough barricade structure" and had donned their self-contained breathing apparatuses. He said they had survived for some time after the explosion but could not say for how long.

Hopes had diminished earlier Tuesday evening, when it was announced that the body of the thirteenth miner had been found.

The lone body was found about 210 metres from a mining car, and it seemed the miner was working on a beltline, which brings coal out of the mine, said Hatfield.

Holes drilled into the ground Tuesday showed deadly levels of carbon monoxide in the mine. Earlier tests revealed carbon monoxide levels of 1,300 parts per million -- far in excess of the 400 parts per million maximum level that sustains life.

There had been no previous contact made with the miners since the accident occurred Monday morning.

What happened on Monday

The mine was reopening after a holiday shutdown, when the blast occurred shortly after 6:30 a.m., trapping the miners about 80 m underground and more than 3 km into the Sago Mine.

Though the cause of the explosion has not been officially confirmed, a spokeswoman for Manchin said earlier that it may have been sparked by lightning.

Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas.

The danger increases in the winter months, when the barometric pressure can release the odourless, colourless and highly flammable gas.

ICG acquired the Sago Mine last March when it bought Anker West Virginia Mining Co., which had been in bankruptcy.

The mine, located about 160 km northeast of Charleston, had annual production of about 800,000 tons of coal and employs about 130 people.

During an 11-week review that ended Dec. 22, federal inspectors cited the mine for 46 alleged violations of federal mine health and safety rules, according to records.

The more serious alleged violations involved steps for safeguarding against roof falls, and the mine's plan to control methane and breathable dust.

The state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training issued 144 notices of violation against the mine in 2005, up from 74 the year before, The Associated Press reported.

[shavonfan]

I have some strong opinions about this matter, and I completely understand if there is disagreement about my comments. To me, this is much more than a mistake in communication. Granted, everyone makes mistakes. But this kind of thing should not happen in journalism, except in rare cases, and it is beginning to happen all too frequently. I attribute it to the pressure of being the first to come out with a story. Why isn't the proper homework being done before a story is released? We have seen this happen in New Orleans after the hurricane hit, which is only one such example. There are many others, and will continue to be so, because twenty-four hour news coverage is a tough business, and there are many competing factors today. So, yes, I am blaming the media on this one. It is the reporter's fault, the reporter's employer, and also the profession itself for what it has now become. The news is devastating enough, only to be made more so BY THE NEWS! That is horrible! And guess what? Now it has become a news story about the miscommunication! Incredible! Oh, and I would be remiss in not stating that my heart goes out to all who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. My prayers continue for them as well.

[ocelot]

I absolutely agree with you. I think in situations like these the news media needs to back away. I feel for the people who have been affected by this they deserved better than that. This can't be put aside as a mistake it's people poking their heads where they don't belong and making people suffer even more than they should for it and then acting like it's not their fault. I find it horrible. My heart and my prayers goes out to the people affected by this terrible tragedy.

[shavonfan]

"Media forced to explain inaccurate reports on tragedy"- By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
Thu Jan 5, 7:19 AM ET

Newspapers, wire services and cable news networks all failed in one degree or another to do their jobs properly when they reported that 12 men had survived the coal mine disaster in West Virginia, media critics and chastened editors say.

The collective failure was most apparent Wednesday morning on front pages across the nation. Headlines, including in about 45% of USA TODAY's 2.2 million copies, proclaimed the miners were alive. Other newspapers that put similar reports on their front pages in at least some editions include The New York Times, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis and The Washington Post.

Mike Fetters, a spokesman for The Newseum, a Washington, D.C.-based museum about the media, says that slightly more than half of the 250 U.S. newspapers examined Wednesday by the staff at the museum published front-page stories that said the miners were alive.


Few of those stories raised doubts about the report's credibility. Most did not make clear to readers, for instance, that the news was based on secondhand accounts from family members of the trapped miners just before midnight ET Tuesday. Officials from the company that owned the mine had not confirmed that the men were alive.


In truth, as cable news viewers learned about 3 a.m. ET Wednesday, only one man survived the tragedy in Tallmansville, W.Va.


Greg Mitchell, editor of the trade magazine Editor & Publisher, called the media's performance "disturbing and disgraceful" in an online column Wednesday morning.


"The job of reporters and editors is to stop and say 'we've got some possible good news, but it's not confirmed yet,' " Mitchell said later Wednesday in an interview. "That really didn't happen."


Mitchell thinks reporters and editors "got carried away" by what appeared to be miraculous news. Newspapers were also under deadline pressure, he said. Many were in the process of printing Wednesday's edition as the news was breaking.


Mitchell does not exempt cable news networks from his criticism: For three hours, "all of them were reporting, without qualification, that the miners were safe," he said.


Jack Shafer, media critic at the online magazine Slate, said the episode "should underscore to readers that we in the media are fallible. Ours is a flawed business."


Many editors said the incident is prompting self-examinations in their newsrooms.


John Hillkirk, an executive editor at USA TODAY, said the editors there "are talking to everybody involved" in the story's reporting and editing "to scrutinize the way we covered it." The newspaper will publish a correction in Thursday's editions and at www.usatoday.com.


At usatoday.com, editors relied on reports from The Associated Press as the story developed - meaning the website followed the news as it turned from miracle to tragedy.


"This is not a good day for news organizations," said George de Lama, deputy managing editor for news at the Chicago Tribune, where 373,000 of Wednesday's 656,000 copies went to readers with a front-page story stating the miners had survived. At his newspaper, "we're all sick about this...conversations are underway across the newsroom on how to prevent it from happening again."


At the Star Tribune, all 325,000 copies of Wednesday's newspaper reported that the miners were alive. "All of us in the business need to do some sorting out today about what we actually knew and from which sources," Scott Gillespie, the newspaper's managing editor, said Wednesday.


Many newspapers published accounts produced by the Associated Press, which first reported at 11:52 p.m ET Tuesday that "family members" said the 12 miners were alive. But by 12:25 a.m. ET Wednesday, AP had dropped the attribution to family members from the first paragraph of its main story on the mine disaster.


The service had added a quote from West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, who said "they told us they have 12 alive." But it was not clear who Manchin was referring to when he said "they." He told USA TODAY Wednesday that he "never confirmed" to any media that the miners were alive.


Mike Silverman, the AP's managing editor, said in a statement Wednesday it "was reporting accurately the information that we were provided by credible sources - family members and the governor. Clearly, as time passed and there was no firsthand evidence the miners were alive, the best information would have come from mine company officials, but they chose not to talk."

The AP also reported Wednesday that Manchin had said he heard the miners were alive from "rescue people."

Cable news networks defended their work. Jonathan Klein,. president of CNN U.S., said "two pretty good sources" had appeared to confirm the news - Manchin and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (news, bio, voting record), R-W.Va. At 12:28 a.m. ET Wednesday, CNN broadcast an interview with Capito. Asked what she could confirm, Capito said "12 miners (are) alive."

Len Downie, executive editor of the The Washington Post, defended the media. "Our story was a reflection of what was being said at the time," said Downie. "I don't regard it as our error, but as an error by the people in charge of the rescue."

The Post's account, which stated flatly that the miners "were found alive," also appeared in many other newspapers that subscribe to the Post's news service.

One newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, says it was able to destroy copies of an early edition that carried the erroneous report. "Every copy of today's Los Angeles Times" that went to newsstands and subscribers "carried the correct information about the mine disaster," David Garcia,. the newspaper's spokesman, said in an e-mail.

Contributing: Jill Lawrence.

[shavonfan]

I'll state it again: it is horrible that the news has become the news!

[shavonfan]

"Miner's Note Shows Some Alive for 10 Hours" - By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer


PHILIPPI, W.Va. - In the darkness of the Sago Mine, one of 12 trapped coal miners scrawled a timeline detailing how he was alive but losing air at least 10 hours after an underground explosion, his daughter said Saturday.

"Each time he documented, you could tell it was getting worse," Ann Merideth told The Associated Press of the note written by her father, 61-year-old shuttle car operator Jim Bennett. "Later on down the note, he said that it was getting dark. It was getting smoky. They were losing air."

If he was lucid enough to be writing 10 hours after the blast, he could have been saved — but the rescue operation didn't move fast enough, Merideth said.

The first rescuers didn't go into the mine until 11 hours after the blast, a lag officials said was necessary to clear the mine of high concentrations of poisonous gases. When the miners were brought out more than 40 hours after the blast, there was only one survivor.

"I'm not sure how many miners went and was able to live as long as my father had, which I'm sure most of them did, and it really bothers me because it took them so long," Bennett's daughter said.

International Coal Group Inc. chief executive Ben Hatfield, whose company operates the mine, said rescuers had to follow state and federal laws that requires a methodical approach to avoid rescuers getting trapped, injured or killed themselves.

"It is painful, and it's slow, and it was maddening as we were all just doing our level best as we were attempting to get there," Hatfield told the AP. "And we're going to do our best to make sure that families understand."

Bob Friend, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's acting deputy assistant secretary of labor, echoed his words, saying a primary concern in such a rescue operation is the safety of the rescue teams.

Monday's explosion killed one miner immediately. Eleven others were found huddled two miles inside the mine behind a plastic curtain they had erected to keep out deadly carbon monoxide.

The lone survivor, 26-year-old Randal McCloy Jr., remained critically ill Saturday with possible brain damage from oxygen deprivation and carbon monoxide poisoning. However, doctors at a Pittsburgh hospital said he was showing dramatic signs of recovery, including flickering his eyes, and was well enough to be flown back to a hospital closer to his West Virginia home later Saturday.

Merideth said her father's note, given to the family Friday by the medical examiner, has three or four entries, the first at 11:40 a.m. Monday, about five hours after the blast, and the final entry, with words getting fainter and trailing off the page, at 4:25 p.m., nearly 10 hours after the blast.

She said she had suspected there would have been a last note from her father, a deeply religious man who prayed for his fellow miners every day and planned to retire this year.

"Well, we got one yesterday. Bless his heart," Merideth said. She shared the details but did not provide a copy to the AP.

"He didn't know how much more time he had. But he wanted everybody to know to tell my mom that he loved her," she said. "And he wanted me and my brother to know that he loved us."

Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA official who has worked in mine safety for 25 years, said Bennett's note points out the need for miners to have oxygen systems that can last longer. He added that the miner's timeline suggests that the barricaded group found a pocket of clean, usable air that would have allowed them to use their oxygen systems only intermittently.

And while he understands concerns by families that the rescuers didn't move faster, Oppegard said rescues are very dangerous and have to be done with "all deliberate speed." In 1976, 11 rescuers died when there was a second mine explosion in Letcher County, Ky.

"You don't have a bunch of cowboys rushing in," he said.

The first visitations for the miners also began Saturday, with their funerals scheduled Sunday through Tuesday.

After their wrenching vigil of raised and shattered hopes during the recovery effort was played out in front of television cameras, the families took pains to carry out their grieving in private.

Police cars lined up to keep television trucks, reporters and others away from the visitation for 28-year-old David Lewis in Philippi. In Buckhannon, two state troopers guarded the entrance to a funeral home where the visitation for 51-year-old Alva Bennett was held.

Gov. Joe Manchin spent about an hour at a funeral home with the family of Jerry Lee Groves, 56. He presented relatives with a memorial proclamation from the state and hugged Groves' mother, Wanda.

Next to the closed casket was a large photograph of Groves in the mine, and dozens of flowers carrying notes of sympathy.

A group of emergency workers paying their respects wore black patches on their uniforms with yellow lettering: "In memory of our fallen Sago miners."

Back at the mine, 12 big, black bows were tied around the entrance's fence, and residents spent the day shuttled back and forth to the miners' wakes, a chore Russell Lane said brought the emotional week full circle.

"They built this big balloon up in front of us. They got it up to its maximum volume. And then they came along and stuck the pin in it," said Lane, 54. "It really doesn't hit you until it's all over and they're all buried."

Federal and state investigators have yet to enter the mine, where additional ventilation holes are being drilled to purge the mine of poisonous gases, a process that may not be completed for a few days.

Although the mine is closed, Hatfield met with about 145 employees Saturday to assure them there will be no layoffs. He said employees would be paid for the whole week, and offered them temporary jobs at ICG's other mines in the region, The company has operations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois.