| Author | Message | ||
     Tramp |
can't believe the AP ran a story (which graced the headline of our paper, this am) stating that12 miners were rescued, safe and sound, and only one perished. the article describes the rejoicing of friends and loved ones at that (now erroneous) news. horrible. my thoughts go out to them | ||
| Daves |
That would be terrible to go thru. | ||
| Glitch |
The Atlanta Journal Constitution ran the false story on this morning's headline. | ||
| Bomber |
as did the Chicago Tribune -- (Dewey Wins, comes to mind) saddening, no doubt -- I can't imagine the roller-coaster the friends' and relatives' emotions must have been on thoughts and prayers to all involved | ||
| Xring |
I've been in that mine, a few years ago. Our surveying company helped set it up and we did the underground surveying for the first mining contractor. Methane is typically not a big issue in our part of the state (at least if safe ventilation practices are followed), so we're interested in what happened. And saddened by the outcome. Tragedies like this depress everybody in this area. Bill | ||
| Bcordb3 |
Same same in the Phoenix paper. It becomes a larger tragedy now with "miscommunication" from the press. God save those who are effected by this. | ||
| Spreadem |
Gov's doing some major damage control on this one...what a sad story. Hopefully that one survivor pulls through... | ||
| Mikej |
That's the problem with the Press sometimes, they're in so much of a hurry to get to print/broadcast first that they don't bother to confirm the story, they tend to feed off of each other. Corrected story: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MINE_EXPLOSION?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=HOME&TE MPLATE=DEFAULT Partial quote in case the link breaks:
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| Tgroghan |
I just thought this was interesting. "More than 50 citations have been issued to the Sago mine since October, some as recently as Dec. 21. The West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training issued 144 notices of violation against the mine in 2005, up from 74 the year before. Mine industry leaders argue that safety citations are typical for the industry." Posted January 3, 2006 10:57 AM http://www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=3012 | ||
| Mikej |
The mine also changed ownership in the last few months as well. | ||
| Xring |
The locals are very po'ed at mine management. The rescue team was communicating to the outside over an open speaker; apparently somebody overheard some of the conversation and started telling people that the miners had been found alive. The local news reported that only about 20 minutes later the officials in charge realized that some of the miners were not alive; they apparently spent quite a bit of time trying to find out exactly what the death toll was, rather than immediately announcing what little they knew. None of the rescuers or mine officials ever made an official announcement that the miners were still alive. Bill | ||
| Xring |
"Mine industry leaders argue that safety citations are typical for the industry." That is an accurate statement. Only a review of the actual citations would tell you if the violations could have had any bearing on the situation. Bill | ||
| Ryker77 |
whats really sad.. is how much American news is all over such a tragedy. But once its over and done with mine safety and why it happened will no longer be a headline. It will be some missing kid or hollywood movie star murder that will be todays headline. etc etc etc | ||
| CJXB |
Reported in the Milwaukee Sentinal Journal as well, so sad. | ||
| Buellbozo |
JMHO... May God bring peace to those poor people.Deep mining is so terribly dangerous,and many jobs in this country are more hazardous than need be due to the misguided policy of deregulation and lack of oversight and enforcement. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
The saddest part is that Mine wasn't shut down by the Government after countless Federal Citations. What a waste. And it should never have happened. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I think they were misquoted. I think the original phrase was: "we found twelve and we're checking for vital signs" Everyone was hoping so much that they grasped onto that "good news". It's just about the scariest thing I can imagine. I can't even begin to know how brave the rest of the THOUSANDS of miners in the area have to be to get to work after something like this. I wouldn't be able to take that job for an hour. | ||
| Davegess |
Here in Milwaukee our DA treats any on job death resulting from missing safety items as a potential murder charge against the owner of the business. He has made at least one manslaughter charge stick and sent a guy to jail. Sounds like that kind of attitude might be needed in WV. | ||
| Bomber |
I lived in an area with many coal mines for a bit -- very brave souls, making top notch pay for the area, but no where near what I'd need for the gig (not sure there IS enough for me to take the gig) . . . . . I have no idea what shape the mine was in, nor do many others at this point, I would imagine), but they did tell me that even with the best equipment, rightous maintenance, and by the book procedures, stuff happens sometimes -- no matter what the case is, the families and friends are going thorugh something I can't imagine -- let's hope the legal community acts with the appropriate amount of ethics | ||
| Crusty |
I worked for 20 years as a Miner. I had to quit when my ankle got crushed. I worked primarily in Hard Rock; with a good bit of soft ground tunneling as well. I didn't work coal, I knew too many coal miners and heard their stories. All those affected by this tragedy are in my prayers. Just as an aside; during World War Two, more Americans died in mines than in combat. | ||
| Bandm |
Just as an aside; during World War Two, more Americans died in mines than in combat.  I don't know how many Americans died in WWII but I'm pretty sure it was more than 8,000. I would think in a community as tight as a mining community the people affected by this tragedy would have a more direct source of information than the news media, since the rescue workers and victims are family and neighbors. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'm guessing the statistic was proportional... that is the number of miners killed versus the overall number of miners was higher then the number of soldiers killed relative to the overall number of people in the military. In other words, it was more dangerous to choose to be a miner then to choose to join the military. But that is pure speculation. Regardless, my prayers for the families of those miners, and my respect to people that have had the courage to work the earth. | ||
| Crusty |
Bandm, those 8,000 deaths were per 100,000; which means that 8% of all miners died. I'd also bet that those figures don't include death from other directly related causes, such as Black Lung, Silicosis, Asbestosis, etc. My Union used to use that statement to emphasize safety. I don't have exact figures; however,my point was to stress how dangerous mining is. I personally have been taken to the local E.R. more times than I care to remember; the last time being a career ending injury that leaves me walking with a cane, and an open script for 800 mg. Ibuprophen. Mining has come a long way in safety, but it's still got a long way to go. | ||
| Davegess |
My heart goes out to those people, bad enough to lose a loved one that way but to celebrate a survival and them learn it did not happen... my God how horrible would that be to go through. | ||
| Bandm |
The 8,000 deaths are the total number of miners killed from 1941-1945. The rate per 100,000 shows about 450 for 5 years, or .45% of miners died from 1941-1945, or 90 per 100,000, .09% per year. WWII had 407,300 American military deaths at a rate of 320 per 100,000 Americans, total population, not just military. | ||
| Crusty |
Bandm, you can't even read your own graph. I'm not going to argue with you. Reality is that there are a lot of hurting people in W.VA. today because their loved ones are dead. I suggest you work one shift in a coal mine, and get a little perspective. | ||
| Blake |
Crusty, Only the reported rates are per 100,000. Please see the notation in the graph title as indicated by the "*" and the numeric scale on the right side Y-axis scale. For the 1941-1945 interval the total number of deaths shown in the graph are about 6,500 as indicated by the applicable dark blue bar (7th from the left) as measured against the left-hand Y-axis scale. The corresponding death rate per 100,000 per 5-year interval (red line) is shown to be about 270 as measured against the right-hand Y-axis scale, so about 0.27%/5-yrs or 0.05%/yr. That data of course in no way detracts from the recent tragic accident in W. VA. (Message edited by blake on January 05, 2006) | ||
| Blake |
That is a complex graph that is difficult to interpret. Maybe the following mark-up will help...  | ||
| Blake |
So during WW-II about 6,500 Americans died in coal mines and another 1,500 (the light blue bar) died in other types of mines, for a total of around 8,000. We lost hundreds of thousands of our military men during in WW-II. Again, the right side Y-axis of the graph provides the scale for the fatality rate per 100,000 workers where the left hand Y-axis provides the scale for actual number of deaths during each five year interval shown. Hope that helps.  | ||
| Xring |
WV had three fatalities in coal mines last year (2005): two roof fall related, one powered haulage related. Now we are starting the year with 12 deaths. The statement above that sometimes it happens even when you do everything right is correct. The latest opinion (although the investigation isn't complete) is that methane build-up in a sealed area was ignited (perhaps by lightning). That would go far beyond being considered a freak accident. I expect MSHA and/or WV OMHS&T to institute additional regulations regarding electrical storms or industry practice regarding sealing of old works if the initial reports are true. Bill | ||
| Crusty |
I did a little investigation, and the numbers I came up with match the numbers on that graph. I am guilty of spreading misinformation. My apologies. |
