Sago Mine disaster
Encyclopedia
The Sago Mine disaster was a coal mine explosion
on January 2, 2006, in the Sago Mine in Sago
, in Upshur County
, West Virginia
, USA, near the county seat
of Buckhannon
. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners
for nearly two days; one miner survived. It was the worst mining disaster in the United States since the Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster
in Alabama
on September 23, 2001, and the worst disaster in West Virginia since the 1968 Farmington Mine Disaster
.
The disaster received extensive news coverage worldwide. After mining officials released incorrect information, many media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that 12 survivors had been found alive, when only one of the thirteen trapped miners survived.
, Inc. was formed in May 2004 by investor
Wilbur Ross
, who led a group that bought many of Horizon Natural Resources' assets in a bankruptcy auction. The company produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia (Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia) and from one complex in the Illinois basin.
Ross, originally operating as Newcoal LLC with four other investors, expressed interest in buying Horizon's nonunion properties, but not its six union operations. According to the Associated Press, Horizon was then allowed to sever its union contracts, including pension benefits, by bankruptcy court. In March 2005, ICG agreed to buy Anker Coal Group, Inc.
(MSHA) 208 times for violating regulations, up from 68 in 2004. Of those, 96 were considered S&S (significant / serious and substantial).
The Charleston Gazette said "Sago mine has history of roof fall
s". MSHA found 52 violations from April to June, of which 31 were "serious and substantial" (S&S). From early July to late September, MSHA found 70 violations, 42 of which were S&S. MSHA inspections from early October to late December resulted in 46 citations and three orders, 18 of which were S&S. Violations include failure to follow the approved roof control and mine ventilation plans and problems concerning emergency escapeways and required pre-shift safety examinations. The Gazette article explained that "S&S" violations are those that MSHA believes are likely to cause an accident that would seriously injure a miner. Originally MSHA reported on its website that none of the violations were considered "immediate risk of injury" and that all but three violations, related to shoring up the roof, were corrected by the time of the accident. But the current posting says, "Of the 208 citations, orders and safeguards issued in 2005, several involved significant violations that were the result of high negligence and MSHA ordered that mining cease in the affected area until the unsafe condition was addressed. However, fewer than half of the overall citations against Sago Mine in 2005 were for "significant and substantial" violations—and all but eight of the overall citations have been corrected by the operator. The eight remaining issues were being abated by the operator in compliance with the abatement provisions of the Mine Act. "Mining operations at the Sago Mine more than doubled between 2004 and 2005, and the injury rate was significantly above the national average. This prompted MSHA to dramatically increase—by 84%—its on-site inspection and enforcement presence. As a result, MSHA also took significantly more enforcement actions—208 in total—against Sago Mine in 2005, requiring the operator to quickly correct health and safety violations in accordance with federal Mine Act standards." Davitt McAteer, MSHA chief during the Clinton administration told The Gazette, "The numbers don’t sound good....[they are] sufficiently high that it should tip off management that there is something amiss here. For a small operation, that is a significant number of violations." McAteer said the roof fall frequency "suggests that the roof is bad and that the support system is not meeting the needs of the roof." Additionally, West Virginia's
Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training issued 144 citations over that year, up from 74 the previous year.
On January 3, 2006, Bruce Watzman of the National Mining Association
, interviewed by Tom Foreman for Anderson Cooper 360, was asked whether any of the violations "leaps out at you as endangering miners' lives?" Watzman explained that they could be "paperwork errors [or] reporting errors. A lot of violations, but many of which were not significant to really impact miner safety." By contrast, a report in Christian Science Monitor on January 6, 2006, quotes McAteer as saying "Sago raises red flags for mine oversight ... If you have a widespread practice of S&S violations over an extended period of time like we have here, it suggests that you've got much more serious problems than just paperwork violations". Relying on MSHA records, Ellen Smith, the editor of Mine Safety and Health News, comments on her publication's website in an article, "Sago Mine Facts," "Sago's accident rate was 17.04 for 2005, with 16 miners and contractors injured on the job. Sago’s accident rate was 15.90 in 2004 when the national average was 5.66. "Compare this accident rate to another small mine in West Virginia, Kingston Mining No. 1 Mine, which had an accident rate of 1.21 in 2005."
at the beginning of the first shift after the mine reopened after the New Year's
holiday weekend. An examination conducted at 5:50 am by a mine fire boss had cleared the mine for use. Two carts of miners were making their way into the mine to begin work.
Early reports noted that there was a thunderstorm
in the area at the time and suggested a lightning
strike near the mine entrance may have ignited methane
, but no one reported seeing such a strike. Sensors from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network indicated at least two cloud-to-ground lightning strikes near the mine. Another early theory was that lightning struck a methane well that had previously been drilled from the surface to an area behind the seals. Methane wells are used to extract methane from coal seams and sometimes from sealed areas when methane levels are high.
Storm systems are accompanied by low atmospheric pressure, which causes more methane to escape from coal seams and sealed areas. In winter the air is drier and less dense and creates a drier mine environment. Such conditions have been known to contribute to past mine fires and explosions. Other factors affecting methane liberation include whether the mine ventilation system is exhausting (negative pressure) or blowing (positive pressure), and the operating pressures of the fans.
Fourteen men on the second cart escaped the initial explosion. The 12 trapped miners were on the first cart, which apparently passed the point where the explosion occurred. The foreman on the second cart, whose brother was among those trapped, the mine superintendent and three others entered the mine to rescue the trapped miners. They reached 9000 feet (2,743.2 m) into the mine before air quality detectors indicated there was too much carbon monoxide
to proceed. In addition, repairs they had made to ventilation controls raised fears that increased fresh air to the interior of the mine may cause a second explosion.
(MSHA) at 8:30. The company said it started its calls at 7:40. MSHA records two calls at 8:10 to personnel who were out of town due to the holiday. MSHA arrived on site at approximately 10:30 am. The first rescue crew arrived ten minutes later.
High levels of carbon monoxide
(CO) and methane gas in the mine atmosphere made it necessary for rescuers to wait 12 hours after the explosion to begin to reach the miners. Tests taken through holes drilled from the surface showed that the air near where the miners were last known to be stationed contained 1,300 parts per million of CO. More than 200 parts per million is considered unsafe. However, each miner had a Self-Contained Self-Rescuer (SCSR) device that provided one hour of breathable air. Emergency supplies were stored in 55-gallon drums (205 L drums) within the mine.
Even after the gases abated, rescue teams had to proceed with caution, continually testing for hazards such as water seeps, explosive gas concentrations, and unsafe roof conditions. This limited their rate of progress to 1000 feet (304.8 m) an hour. They checked in every 500 feet (152.4 m), and then disconnected their telephones until the next checkpoint in order to avoid the possibility of a spark
creating another explosion. MSHA had deployed a 1,300-lb. (520 kg) robot
into the mine as well, but pulled it out after it became mired 2600 feet (792.5 m) from the mine entrance.
After more than nine hours of searching, rescue teams pulled out of the mine at about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, January 3. Through an agency spokeswoman, Bob Friend of MSHA said the teams were withdrawn when they discovered that the mine's atmospheric monitoring system was still running. Due to the air quality in the mine, power to the system could have caused another explosion according to safety experts. Also, a borehole
being drilled to check the mine's air quality was nearing the mine roof. "The bit and steel being used was not equipped to use water, which meant the bit was hot and could ignite an explosive mixture of methane," Friend told a reporter from the West Virginia Gazette. Rescue teams returned to the mine 6:22 a.m.
Two 6.25 inches (15.9 cm) holes were drilled from the surface into areas where the miners were believed to be; microphone
s and video camera
s lowered into them for ten-minute periods did not find any signs of life. Air quality tests performed through the first hole on the morning of January 3 indicated that carbon monoxide (CO) levels in that part of the mine were at 1,300 parts per million. Officials called this "very discouraging." A third hole encountered groundwater
and could not be drilled all the way down. However, the miners were trained to find a safe part of the mine and barricade themselves into it in the event of an explosion or collapse. Experts expected that a third hole, if successful, could expand the opening and provide a better way of rescuing the miners than proceeding into the mine. Miners are required to carry a SCSR that provides a one-hour supply of oxygen
for evacuation. The first hint of the miners' status came around 5:00 p.m. on January 3 when it was reported that a body had been found. Because of the location of the body, those familiar with the miners and their jobs believed it was the fire boss
, Terry Helms. Hours later, just before midnight, rumours spread quickly that 12 of the 13 miners had been found alive. Thirty minutes later, the rescue team told company officials that the original report was incorrect.
In the early morning of January 4, 41 hours after the incident began, 12 of the miners were found dead. Randal L. McCloy, Jr. was found alive, but in critical condition. The remaining miners were found at the working face of the second left portion of the mine, some 2.5 miles (4 km) from the mine entrance, behind a "rough barricade structure", as described by Hatfield. This is the same area where drillings indicated high carbon monoxide levels.
About three hours after the reports, company CEO
Ben Hatfield
confirmed that McCloy was the only survivor. This was the first official report from the company since the victims were found. Soon after the first reports of survivors, ambulance
s and the hospital emergency room were on standby. Hatfield said that carbon monoxide levels in the area where the miners were found was in the range of 300–400 ppm when the rescue team arrived. This is near the safe threshold level to support life for 15 minutes. He said that carbon monoxide poisoning was the likely cause of death.
"Our intentions are to do the right thing and protect our people the best we can," Hatfield said. "Federal and state mining officials will conduct a thorough investigation of the accident with full company support."
He remembered that on January 2, 2006, just after exiting the mantrip
, "the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable...." At least four of the rescuers' emergency oxygen packs were not functioning. "I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around." Because of the bad air, they "had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet."
They "attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface."
After becoming exhausted, they stopped trying to signal. "The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths... I could tell that it was gassy." According to McCloy, Toler and Anderson tried to find a way out. "The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas." At that point the miners, despite their fears, "began to accept our fate. Toler led us all in the Sinner's Prayer
. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones."
McCloy "became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it were our time to go, then God’s will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue."
On January 5, notes written by some of the deceased miners were submitted to family members.
arrived at the Sago site on January 2. Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito
was also among the officials that joined the family members at the scene. The Mine Safety and Health Administration had approximately 25 people on the scene at any given time, according to the Agency's Web site.
reported that federal inspectors had approved the Sago mine for reopening the previous day.
On March 16, 2006, Village Voice reported that the mine reopened March 15, 2006. Village Voice criticized, "So, not knowing what caused the explosion, or whether the mine remains vulnerable to that kind of accident, the mine owners started operations again as the federal and state safety officials stood by." ICG closed the mine on March 19, 2007. On December 12, 2008, they announced on their website they would be closing it permanently.
announced on January 9 that he had appointed J. Davitt McAtteer, assistant secretary for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Clinton administration to oversee a state probe of the disaster. The Charleston Gazette named the committee to the Sago probe as including former miner Mike Caputo
, D-Marion; Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer; and Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; and Sens. Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall; Shirley Love, D-Fayette; and Don Caruth, R-Mercer.
On March 1, 2006, Governor Manchin announced the March 14, 2006, hearing had been rescheduled for May 2, delayed at the request of several family members of miners who died in the disaster. McAteer said the complex investigation warranted a careful and thorough investigation only with all the facts. McAteer would moderate the joint federal-state hearing to be held on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, to include a panel of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety & Training (WVMHST), state, labor and industry officials. Manchin said, "I'm confident that May's public hearings will be very useful in providing crucial information to the families of these fallen miners." McAteer said MSHA and the state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training have agreed to publish transcripts of the so far secret interviews in the federal investigation before the May 2 hearing.
The commission released its preliminary report on the Sago disaster on July 19, 2006.
(MSHA) would launch a full investigation to determine the cause, and to "take the necessary steps to ensure that this never happens again." The MSHA issued its own release announcing an independent eight-member team that would conduct the investigation including the cause of the explosion, compliance with regulations and the handling of information on the trapped miners' condition. The team would examine the site, interview mine personnel and others with information, review records and plans, inspect any equipment involved and issue any citations for violations. The MHSA site reiterated its team will be headed up by a senior MSHA safety professional who has not been part of the initial inspection and enforcement efforts." On January 9, 2006, David G. Dye, acting assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, announced that "MSHA joins Governor Manchin and the State of West Virginia in announcing that we will conduct a joint investigation into the Sago Mine disaster, which will include a joint public hearing. West Virginia has its own mine safety inspection and enforcement agency, and we want to coordinate closely to ensure that our investigation is thorough and complete...Our full investigative report will also be made available to the families and the public."
It was announced that Richard A. Gates, MSHA district manager in Birmingham, Alabama
, would head the team of technical experts. Others would be ventilation experts John Urosek and Richard Stoltz, ventilation supervisor Dennis Swentosky; electrical supervisor Robert Bates, field office supervisor Joseph O'Donnell, engineer Clete Stephan, and special investigator Gary Harris.
for its own purposes. UMWA International President Cecil Roberts
responded denying ‘manipulation', saying instead that it was fulfilling its responsibility under the MSHA regulations. It counteraccused ICG of attempting to get the identities of the miners who designated the UMWA as their representative. It questioned why they needed to know that, and what they would do with that information.
MSHA filed a motion in federal court to allow UMWA participation and according to Associated Press writer Vicki Smith in her January 26, 2006, story, "Judge says Union can be part of Mine Probe, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Maxwell ordered ICG to allow UMW officials from entering the mine, saying "There's no question that the public interest is best served by a complete and thorough investigation into the occurrence of the problems at the Sago Mine....There is a strong public interest in allowing miners to play a role in this investigation, as it is their health and safety that is at issue. On January 27, 2006, ICG stated its intention to appeal.
She reported complaints from the UMWA for over a year, from mine operators and by her paper that they could no longer get information from MSHA though the FOIA. She stated that the previous week, "Ed Clair, the U.S. Labor Department’s Associate Solicitor for Mine Safety and Health, disclosed that, without public comment or input, MSHA secretly changed its long-standing policy of routinely releasing inspector notes under the Freedom of Information Act." The prior policy had been in effect since the Mine Act of 1977.
She continued, "Now, the public will no longer be able to get MSHA inspector notes from a mine inspection, unless the operator or miner is willing to go through legal proceedings and the discovery process. Under this new policy, the press is certainly excluded from these notes, miners may be as well, and it certainly hampers an operator's ability to resolve many MSHA enforcement disputes without litigation."
On January 11, 2006, Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) asked Labor Secretary Chao to reverse MSHA's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors' notes in FOIA responses, citing how the agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the recent disaster.
On January 20, 2006, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner
(R-OH), Workforce Protections Subcommittee
Chairman Charlie Norwood (R-GA) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), sent a letter to Chao, also requesting a reversal.
According to a news release by Boehner, on January 30, 2006, Acting Assistant Secretary for Mine Health and Safety David G. Dye wrote, “I have recently concluded that, given MSHA’s unique statutory framework, inspector notes should generally be released once a citation has been issued (or an inspection is closed without citations), rather than withholding the notes until all litigation is concluded. The policy will be effective
immediately."
Transcripts were made public only after The Charleston Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents and posted the documents to its website on April 16, 2006. "At first, state officials released a limited number of the transcripts, but then made others widely available after the Gazette obtained them and posted them on the Internet," reported Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward, Jr. in his April 22, 2006, story, "Details of ICG's inquiry into Sago disaster sought."
During his interview with government investigators on March 23, 2006, ICG Vice President Sam Kitts repeatedly refused to discuss the company’s investigation. His Lexington, Kentucky attorney, Maraco M. Rajkovich,who also represented several other ICG employees during the interviews, said ICG had not authorized Kitts to answer questions about the investigation. Rajkovich said he did not know who was authorized to answer such questions.
"We certainly want to see what they have," said Bob Friend, acting deputy assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
: Labor, Heath Human Services and Education Subcommittee's ranking Democrat, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd
, announced a January 19, 2006, hearing, crediting Senator Arlen Specter
(R-PA), and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin
, ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, for their help in its scheduling.
"The families of the Sago miners deserve to know what happened in that mine,” Byrd said. “Just as importantly, miners and their families across this country want to know that steps are being taken to prevent others from ever experiencing such pain."
He added, "The investigation at the Upshur County mine will tell us what caused that deadly explosion. But one conclusion is already evident: it’s time for the decisions affecting America’s miners to be made with their best interests at heart. That should be the legacy of the Sago miners:
On January 13, on its website, the committee issued a notice of the subcommittee meeting. Federal witnesses would be Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health David Dye, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Bob Friend, Coal Mine Safety and Health Administrator Ray McKinney and Mine Safety and Health Associate Solicitor, Edward Claire. Industry witnesses will be International Coal Group (ICG) President and CEO Ben Hatfield, West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton and National Mining Association Vice President for Safety and Health Bruce Watzman. West Virginia witness will be investigation leader Davitt McAteer. Labor witness will be UMWA International President Cecil Roberts.
On January 18, 2006, on its website, the committee rescheduled the hearing for January 23, 2006. The witness list remained the same.
The Republican members of the subcommittee were Arlen Specter (Chairman) (PA), Thad Cochran (MS), Judd Gregg (NH), Larry Craig (ID), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Ted Stevens (AK), Mike DeWine (OH) and Richard Shelby (AL). The Democratic members were Tom Harkin (Ranking Member) (IA), Daniel Inouye (HI), Harry Reid (NV), Senator Herb Kohl (WI), Patty Murray (WA), Mary Landrieu (LA), Richard Durbin (IL).
The written versions of testimony from the hearings were posted on the Appropriations Committee website.
(D-WV) wrote Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee chairman Mike Enzi
(R-WY) and ranking Democrat, Edward M. Kennedy (MA). Also signing the letter were coal state senators Robert Byrd
(D-WV), Rick Santorum
(R-PA), Paul Sarbanes
(D-MD), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Shelby
(R-AL), Evan Bayh
(D-IN), Barack Obama
(D-IL), Jim Bunning
(R-KY), Ken Salazar
(D-CO), Mitch McConnell
(R-KY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). In a press release about the letter, Rockefeller stated,
"We need to know why the administration thinks that it can carry out a policy where it is committing fewer and fewer resources to meet an industry that has more and more needs."
"We need congressional hearings not only so that we can determine what happened at Sago, but, more broadly, about the state of mine safety across West Virginia and across the country."
Enzi held a confirmation hearing January 31, 2006, for Bush's nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Richard Stickler. He announced he had written a January 5, 2006, letter to Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao requesting “regular and comprehensive briefings on the progress and preliminary findings” of the MSHA investigation. and enforcement efforts at the Sago mine.
Enzi held an oversight hearing March 2, 2006, into safety procedures and enforcement measures related to the disaster.
(D-NY) wrote a letter posted on Miller's website to House Education and Workforce Committee: Workforce Protections Subcommittee
Chairman John Boehner
(R-OH) asking for a hearing, saying Congress had abdicated its oversight responsibilities on worker safety issues, while the Bush administration filled worker safety agencies with industry insiders.
On January 5, 2006, Representative Shelley Moore Capito
(R-WV) wrote Chairman Boehner requesting him to schedule a hearing at the earliest possible date and posted the letter on her congressional website.
The chairman, along with subcommittee member Charlie Norwood
(R-GA), issued a statement posted on the committee's website, "We expect MSHA to produce a thorough account of the events that occurred before, during, and after this tragedy, and the Committee will closely monitor this investigation to ensure its timely completion. Following a full accounting of the facts, the Committee will examine the results of the investigation and determine what appropriate steps may be necessary to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again."
The company's equipment detected 100 lightning strikes in the region within 40 minutes of the explosion. A single, powerful lightning strike registered at or near the mouth of the Sago mine at 6:26:36 a.m. This strike held a particularly strong positive charge of 35 kAmps. (A typical strike is 22 to 25 kAmps and relatively rare positive strikes tend to be especially destructive.)
Dr. Martin Chapman, PhD, a Virginia Tech research assistant professor, found that two independent sensors recorded a minor seismic event, possibly from the explosion, 2 seconds later at 6:26:38 a.m.
U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration rules seals to be built using “solid concrete blocks” or alternate materials that will withstand 20 pounds per square inch of pressure.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in its report, "Protecting Coal Miners from Gob Explosions through Explosion-Resistant Mine Ventilation Seals (1993–2005)" reported that "without reliable seal designs, miners' lives could be in jeopardy from the consequences of an underground explosion."
NIOSH also noted that in an explosion caused by lightning in a sealed area of the Gary 50 Mine, 4 ft (1.2 m) thick pumped cement seals tested by NIOSH and approved by MSHA, "effectively contained the explosion, thereby sparing the miners working nearby."
Paul J. Nyden and Ken Ward Jr. report that according to just released state mine permit records, at least four natural gas wells were in close proximity to the mine. One appeared to be adjacent to the sealed area where the explosion is believed to have occurred.
, anchor Daryn Kagan
, announced, "This just in, news out of West Virginia, an underground explosion at a coal mine there."
Hundreds of media, reporters, camera crews, satellite trucks and photographers descended on the small community, taking over yards and setting up camp outside the Sago Baptist Church and at the mine's coal processing plant. Officials had turned a small second-story room there into a make-shift briefing room for the media.
CNN
with Anderson Cooper
, Fox News with Geraldo Rivera
and MSNBC
with Rita Cosby
all broadcast live from Sago throughout the night of January 3 and early morning of January 4 as the story continually changed.
Shortly before rumors started spreading that the miners were found alive Tuesday night (and then reversed Wednesday morning), a reporter there posted a description of the scene on his blog, My West Virginia (now defunct)
and Reuters
reported that 12 of the 13 miners had survived, attributing the reports of survivors to the family members. CNN
.com and other websites sported headlines including "We Got 12 Alive!" as well as "Believe in Miracles: 12 Miners Found Alive."
Governor Manchin, who was in the church with the families when the first incorrect reports began to come in, was soon seen outside the church celebrating "a miracle." The governor later said that his staff never confirmed that there were survivors, but was euphoric along with the families at what seemed to be remarkable news.
Congresswoman Capito appeared on CNN
about 1:00 a.m. and said 12 miners had been brought out alive.
At about 2:45 a.m., Lynette Roby, a resident of Sago, and her two young children told CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper
that Hatfield had just told family members in the church that a miscommunication had taken place and only one of the 13 miners had been found alive. The family members reportedly began to shout and call mine officials "liars" and at least one person in the church had "lunged" at mine officials.
Weeks later, CNN's Randi Kaye
told an audience at West Virginia University that she had been listening to Cooper's interview from outside the Sago Baptist Church.
Hatfield confirmed the miscommunication at a press conference shortly thereafter. Initial information indicated that the miscommunication occurred between the rescue team in the mine and the command center at the surface. According to Hatfield, several personnel at the center were able to simultaneously hear the communications directly from the rescue team. Because of the state regulatory officials on site, both company and state officials, including representatives from the governor's office, were present at the command center. Hatfield estimated that 15–20 minutes elapsed before they learned that there was in fact a miscommunication.
Asked by reporters why the company allowed rumors to circulate for several hours, Hatfield said officials had been trying to clarify and verify information before putting family members on an even worse emotional roller coaster. However, Fox correspondent Bill Hemmer
said he was "ashamed" of how the media repeatedly reported the existence of survivors even as reporters and producers themselves were growing to understand that, in his words, "something didn't add up."
Hemmer noted that the coal company, which had been quite punctual in its dealings with the media throughout the rescue attempt, had not given any information to corroborate the allegations that 12 miners had been rescued, and that the always-available Manchin was nowhere to be found, yet the cable news channels continued to report the story anyway until doctors in a hospital many miles away stated that they had had no contact with emergency service personnel about any of the miners except for McCloy.
Speaking on MSNBC's
Imus in the Morning
program, Lisa Daniels speculated that erroneous reports about survivors on local radio stations were heard by mine officials, causing them to question the accuracy of their own information stating that 12 of the 13 were dead, which in turn delayed an official announcement. 12 died and one survived.
In a published report on the website of the newspaper trade journal Editor & Publisher
, the editor of The Inter-Mountain
, a local afternoon daily based in Elkins, West Virginia
, blamed the national media's inaccurate reporting on a lack of knowledge of local culture. "We get a lot of people here who sometimes believe they have an inside story because they hear it on a police scanner or listen to a conversation," Linda Skidmore said. "We know to be cautious of those situations."
For instance, critics suggested that the severity of the accident's aftermath was related in part to inadequate safety standards endorsed by the MSHA under David Lauriski, a mining industry executive appointed to head the agency by George W. Bush
. On January 6, 2006, Scott Lilly, a columnist for the Center for American Progress
wrote about Lauriski in his article, " MSHA and the Sago Mine Disaster: How Many Brownies are there in this Administration?." Such criticism was not new; an August 9, 2004, story in the New York Times by Christopher Drew and Richard A. Oppel, Jr., "Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid" had summed up Lauriski's record. Other problems cited included the rejection of a proposed clarification of an existing standard, "Escapeways and Refuges," by Lauriski's administration, which requires that a mine "shall have two or more separate, properly maintained escapeways to the surface...."
A January 5 editorial in The New York Times
explicitly linked the safety conditions at the mine to the effects of "an industry with pervasive political clout and patronage inroads in government regulatory agencies." It noted that "political figures from both parties have long defended and profited from ties to the coal industry," and asserted that "the Bush administration's cramming of important posts in the Department of the Interior
with biased operatives" created doubts about mine safety, singling out J. Steven Griles, a former mining lobbyist
and onetime deputy secretary of the Interior who, The Times alleged "devoted four years to rolling back mine regulations." Federal responsibility for enforcing the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
, which governs the activities of the MSHA, was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Labor
in 1978.
A second editorial in the Times, on January 6 discussed budget cuts to the MSHA and "the Bush administration's ... [appointment] of a raft of political appointees directly from energy corporations to critical regulatory posts" in the context of the disaster, suggesting that the Sago 12 "might have survived if government had lived up to its responsibilities."
Other commentators, including Scott Shields
, a blogger for MyDD
, Kevin Drum
, a blogger for The Washington Monthly
, and Andrew Sullivan
also linked the presence of Republican-appointed coal mining executives in the MSHA to the tragedy.
Jack Spadaro, a former director of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy
who was fired after participating as a whistleblower
in a prior case involving the MSHA, made similar statements, referring to the current Bush administration's "reluctance to take the strong enforcement action that's sometimes necessary" in an appearance on the show Hannity & Colmes
. Spadaro was criticized as "extreme left-wing" for his statements by host Sean Hannity
.
The MSHA, on a "Questions and Answers" page regarding the incident, has strongly disputed many of these criticisms. In particular, the administration noted that the Sago mine was not an "accident waiting to happen" as the MSHA had never cited the mine for violations that would lead to "immediate risk of injury." It noted also that it had exercised its right to shut down various parts of the mine, eighteen times in 2005, until safety problems were corrected.
Most relevant to the criticisms discussed in this section, the MSHA explicitly disputed the suggestion that "MSHA has grown 'too soft' on mine operators and has not been aggressive enough in enforcing the Mine Act." It noted that between 2000 and 2005, the number of citations it had issued had increased by 4%, and the number of coal-mine specific citations had increased by 18%.
Dennis O'Dell, of the United Mine Workers of America union, disputed this response, suggesting that the fines MSHA handed to companies for these violations were too small to force action. A Knight Ridder
"investigative report", published on January 7 and containing reference to the official MSHA response, concluded that "Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed."
Moderator Kelly McBride, Ethics Group Leader for Florida's Poynter Institute
was quoted by the Charleston Gazette's February 14, 2006, story,"Forum at WVU examines media coverage of Sago Mine disaster" by Ry Rivard, as saying, "There were real people involved in this story. Real people who didn’t deserve to become the epicenter of a news event....Journalism is supposed to be a service to communities."
Mark Memmott, a media issues reporter for USA Today said, "Out there in the real world the story is that mines aren’t safe, and why did it take so long for rescuers to get there.... Just because we did this panel doesn’t mean we think the media blowing it is the big story."
According to Memmott, the New York Times, without directly quoting Joe Thornton, West Virginia's deputy secretary for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said Thornton had confirmed “rescued miners were being examined at the mine shortly before midnight and would soon be taken to nearby hospitals. Mr. Thornton said he did not know details of their medical condition.”
Scott Finn, the first Charleston Gazette reporter on the scene, argued that a spokesperson from the state or local government or from the coal company would have lessened confusion. “We didn’t know who to go for the truth.”
CBS News producer Mike Solmsen and reporter Sharyn Alfonsi agreed.
Also appearing were CNN's Randi Kaye and the New York Daily News’ Derek Rose.
C-SPAN's American Perspectives: Katrina Recovery & W.V. Mining Disaster aired the forum on February 18, 2006, and has a video of the forum available online as clip 24738.
The Manchin administration can put the requirements into effect as soon as Ireland approves them, or in 42 days if she takes no action. The Governor must submit the rules for a public comment period and revise them accordingly. The emergency rules can remain in effect for 15 months. Final rules require legislative approval, which will likely take place in the 2007 session.
. After being stabilized there, McCloy was transported by ambulance later that morning to a level 1 trauma center
at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital
, 50 miles (80.5 km) away in Morgantown
. He was found to be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning
, a collapsed lung
, brain hemorrhaging, edema
, muscle injury, faulty liver and heart function.
On the evening of January 5, McCloy was transferred to Allegheny General Hospital
in Pittsburgh to receive infusions of oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber to counteract the effects of carbon monoxide. On January 7, he returned to Ruby Memorial Hospital where he remained in a coma. On January 18, doctors reported McCloy was showing signs of gradual awakening. On January 25, doctors reported McCloy was emerging from the coma, but was still unable to talk. On January 26, 2006, West Virginia Hospitals announced that McCloy had been transferred from Ruby Memorial to its HealthSouth Mountainview Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Morgantown, and was under the care of a rehabilitation specialist. He was responsive, could eat, but was still unable to talk. McCloy recovered almost fully after months of physical therapy, but he stated he still suffered from some vision and hearing impairment as well as weakness on the right side of his body.
Family members reported that at least four notes were found. Private funeral
s for the 12 deceased miners were held on January 8 to 10, 2006. A public memorial service
was held on January 15 for them at West Virginia Wesleyan College
in Buckhannon. More than 2,000 attended the service, which was televised live on CNN. Among the speakers were Governor Joe Manchin
and author and West Virginia native Homer Hickam
. Both of West Virginia's U.S. senators, Robert Byrd
and Jay Rockefeller
, and Shelley Capito also attended, but did not speak.
Robert Byrd
(D-WV) introduced a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor
to prescribe additional coal mine safety standards and require additional penalties for habitual violators. The bills was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Initial cosponors were Democrat
s Richard Durbin (IL), Tom Harkin
(IA), Ted Kennedy
(MA), Barack Obama
(IL) and Jay Rockefeller
(WV). The status of the bill can be tracked on THOMAS
, the Library of Congress
's legislative information system
.
The 2006 Congressional Record for the statements made by Senators Byrd, Rockefeller, Reid and Kennedy regarding the introduction of this bill runs from page S447 to S452. It can be found on the Government Printing Office site.
Using belt air for ventilating working sections in and of itself cannot cause a fire, though it can cause air from a belt fire to enter a working section. The belt entry must be ventilated with intake air regardless of whether the intake air is used to ventilate a working section. That regulations allow for using belt air to ventilate working sections could not have had anything to do with the fire, which occurred in an area out by working sections. Regulations require monitoring of belt air for CO or smoke if air ventilating the belt is also used to ventilate working sections and areas where mining equipment is being installed or removed. CO monitoring systems are very sensitive and, if installed correctly and sensors are functioning properly with low level alarms as is required, they provide early warning of a fire to a constantly manned location on the surface and to all affected areas before conditions become too hazardous for escape. It is extremely likely that this accident would have occurred regardless of whether or not the air was used for section ventilation. Many mines had approval to use belt air before the regulations were passed — by petitioning the courts, by providing safeguards such as CO monitoring and stringent sensor calibration schedules, and through investigations conducted by MSHA. Many of these mines have used belt air to ventilate working sections and areas where mining equipment is being installed or removed for years through the petition process. The extra air is often needed to alleviate the explosive hazards of methane. For most mines using belt air to ventilate working sections and equipment installation and removal areas, the inability to use belt air will increase the hazards associated with higher concentrations of methane in the mine atmosphere.
Coal operators have no deadline to provide miners with improved rescue gear. It also sets no deadline for new communications equipment or tracking devices.
On February 2, 2003, MHST director Conaway said as soon as the equipment becomes available, "we’re expecting them to be in the mines....An operator is going to have to show us that they have it or that it’s on order....If they can’t get them, they are going to have to show us that they have ordered them and that they are trying to get them.”
According to Ward, Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said “I know there are several months of backlog right now...There is still some concern on the reliability of the wireless communications and tracking system....A lot of that is still in the prototype stage and not commercially available.”
This last statement contradicts the finding of a 2003 MSHA report, which called the systems “generally effective” and said the agency “encourages” their use.
Any requests for information about mine accidents reported to the new response system must include the “exact dates and times” of accidents and “the intended use of any information provided.”
Jimmy Gianato, the state’s homeland security director, said the language might need to be revised if questions are raised about properly responding to FOIA requests.
, where it was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Cosponsors were Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV). Current status is found by searching on the bill number on Thomas, the Library of Congress's legislative information system. The Congressional Record for Rahall's comments is found on page H127. His extended comments are found on pages E 46 and 47.
“This...will require the use of proven technologies and techniques to help miners evacuate quickly and safely after a mine accident....We are using the emergency temporary standard to get help into the field as fast as possible.”
A copy of the proposed rules was published that date in the Federal Register.
, David Dye, Acting MSHA director, announced a moratorium
on the use of the blocks and a requirement to test for methane build up behind the seals.
Writing about the announcement in his May 23, 2006, article, "Mine sealer banned," Brian Bowling of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review noted that "Officials at International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine, contend the agency's 20-pounds-per-square-inch standard is inadequate. The Ashland, Kentucky
, company hired a structural engineer
, who determined explosive forces in the West Virginia mine reached as high as 60 to 90 psi
."
This assertion was made by the company in its March 14, 2006, news release announcing the reopening of the mine and the findings of its initial study of reasons for the accident.
's song "What Would You Say" is a song about the Sago Mine Disaster. The following words appear in the song: "13 men felt trapped in a mine in West Virginia,
only one made it out alive
but their love lives on in the words
I can not wait to see you on the other side"
Crust punk band Appalachian Terror Unit also has a song about the disaster called "Sago".
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
on January 2, 2006, in the Sago Mine in Sago
Sago, West Virginia
Sago is an unincorporated community in Upshur County, West Virginia. It is located along the Buckhannon River and is the site of the Sago Mine, scene of the 2006 Sago Mine disaster....
, in Upshur County
Upshur County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,404 people, 8,972 households, and 6,352 families residing in the county. The population density was 66 people per square mile . There were 10,751 housing units at an average density of 30 per square mile...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, USA, near the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Buckhannon
Buckhannon, West Virginia
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,725 at the 2000 census. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival,...
. The blast and collapse trapped 13 miners
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
for nearly two days; one miner survived. It was the worst mining disaster in the United States since the Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster
Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster
The Jim Walter Resources Mine disaster was an explosion that happened at approximately 5:15 p.m. on September 23, 2001, at the Jim Walter Resources No. 5 coal mine in Brookwood, 40 miles southwest of Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Thirteen miners were killed when a cave-in caused a release of methane...
in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
on September 23, 2001, and the worst disaster in West Virginia since the 1968 Farmington Mine Disaster
Farmington Mine Disaster
The Farmington Mine disaster was an explosion that happened at approximately 5:30 a.m. on November 20, 1968, at the Consol No. 9 coal mine north of Farmington and Mannington, West Virginia, USA....
.
The disaster received extensive news coverage worldwide. After mining officials released incorrect information, many media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that 12 survivors had been found alive, when only one of the thirteen trapped miners survived.
Mine ownership
Anker West Virginia Mining is listed as the permittee for the Sago Mine. Testifying before MSHA on March 23, 2006, Vice President Sam Kitts described the corporate structure as follows, "Sago is part of Wolf Run Mining Company, which is a subsidiary of Hunter Ridge Mining Company. Hunter Ridge is a subsidiary of ICG, Inc." International Coal GroupInternational Coal Group
International Coal Group, Inc. is a mining company in the United States that produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia and from one complex in the Illinois Basin....
, Inc. was formed in May 2004 by investor
Investor
An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...
Wilbur Ross
Wilbur Ross
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. is an American investor known for restructuring failed companies in industries such as steel, coal, telecommunications, foreign investment and textiles. He specializes in leveraged buyouts and distressed businesses. In 2011, Forbes magazine listed Ross as one of the world's...
, who led a group that bought many of Horizon Natural Resources' assets in a bankruptcy auction. The company produces coal from 12 mining complexes in Northern and Central Appalachia (Kentucky, Maryland, and West Virginia) and from one complex in the Illinois basin.
Ross, originally operating as Newcoal LLC with four other investors, expressed interest in buying Horizon's nonunion properties, but not its six union operations. According to the Associated Press, Horizon was then allowed to sever its union contracts, including pension benefits, by bankruptcy court. In March 2005, ICG agreed to buy Anker Coal Group, Inc.
Prior inspection history
In 2005, the mine was cited by the federal Mine Safety and Health AdministrationMine Safety and Health Administration
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal accidents, to reduce...
(MSHA) 208 times for violating regulations, up from 68 in 2004. Of those, 96 were considered S&S (significant / serious and substantial).
The Charleston Gazette said "Sago mine has history of roof fall
Cave-in
A cave-in is a collapse of a geologic formation, mine or structure which typically occurs during mining or tunneling. Geologic structures prone to cave-ins include alvar, tsingy and other limestone formations, but can also include lava tubes and a variety of other subsurface rock formations.In...
s". MSHA found 52 violations from April to June, of which 31 were "serious and substantial" (S&S). From early July to late September, MSHA found 70 violations, 42 of which were S&S. MSHA inspections from early October to late December resulted in 46 citations and three orders, 18 of which were S&S. Violations include failure to follow the approved roof control and mine ventilation plans and problems concerning emergency escapeways and required pre-shift safety examinations. The Gazette article explained that "S&S" violations are those that MSHA believes are likely to cause an accident that would seriously injure a miner. Originally MSHA reported on its website that none of the violations were considered "immediate risk of injury" and that all but three violations, related to shoring up the roof, were corrected by the time of the accident. But the current posting says, "Of the 208 citations, orders and safeguards issued in 2005, several involved significant violations that were the result of high negligence and MSHA ordered that mining cease in the affected area until the unsafe condition was addressed. However, fewer than half of the overall citations against Sago Mine in 2005 were for "significant and substantial" violations—and all but eight of the overall citations have been corrected by the operator. The eight remaining issues were being abated by the operator in compliance with the abatement provisions of the Mine Act. "Mining operations at the Sago Mine more than doubled between 2004 and 2005, and the injury rate was significantly above the national average. This prompted MSHA to dramatically increase—by 84%—its on-site inspection and enforcement presence. As a result, MSHA also took significantly more enforcement actions—208 in total—against Sago Mine in 2005, requiring the operator to quickly correct health and safety violations in accordance with federal Mine Act standards." Davitt McAteer, MSHA chief during the Clinton administration told The Gazette, "The numbers don’t sound good....[they are] sufficiently high that it should tip off management that there is something amiss here. For a small operation, that is a significant number of violations." McAteer said the roof fall frequency "suggests that the roof is bad and that the support system is not meeting the needs of the roof." Additionally, West Virginia's
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training issued 144 citations over that year, up from 74 the previous year.
On January 3, 2006, Bruce Watzman of the National Mining Association
National Mining Association
The National Mining Association , is a trade organization that lists itself as the voice of the mining industry in Washington, D.C. NMA was formed in 1995, and has more than 325 corporate members.-History:...
, interviewed by Tom Foreman for Anderson Cooper 360, was asked whether any of the violations "leaps out at you as endangering miners' lives?" Watzman explained that they could be "paperwork errors [or] reporting errors. A lot of violations, but many of which were not significant to really impact miner safety." By contrast, a report in Christian Science Monitor on January 6, 2006, quotes McAteer as saying "Sago raises red flags for mine oversight ... If you have a widespread practice of S&S violations over an extended period of time like we have here, it suggests that you've got much more serious problems than just paperwork violations". Relying on MSHA records, Ellen Smith, the editor of Mine Safety and Health News, comments on her publication's website in an article, "Sago Mine Facts," "Sago's accident rate was 17.04 for 2005, with 16 miners and contractors injured on the job. Sago’s accident rate was 15.90 in 2004 when the national average was 5.66. "Compare this accident rate to another small mine in West Virginia, Kingston Mining No. 1 Mine, which had an accident rate of 1.21 in 2005."
Description and early theories of cause
The explosion occurred at approximately 6:30 a.m. ETEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
at the beginning of the first shift after the mine reopened after the New Year's
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
holiday weekend. An examination conducted at 5:50 am by a mine fire boss had cleared the mine for use. Two carts of miners were making their way into the mine to begin work.
Early reports noted that there was a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
in the area at the time and suggested a lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
strike near the mine entrance may have ignited methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, but no one reported seeing such a strike. Sensors from the U.S. National Lightning Detection Network indicated at least two cloud-to-ground lightning strikes near the mine. Another early theory was that lightning struck a methane well that had previously been drilled from the surface to an area behind the seals. Methane wells are used to extract methane from coal seams and sometimes from sealed areas when methane levels are high.
Storm systems are accompanied by low atmospheric pressure, which causes more methane to escape from coal seams and sealed areas. In winter the air is drier and less dense and creates a drier mine environment. Such conditions have been known to contribute to past mine fires and explosions. Other factors affecting methane liberation include whether the mine ventilation system is exhausting (negative pressure) or blowing (positive pressure), and the operating pressures of the fans.
Fourteen men on the second cart escaped the initial explosion. The 12 trapped miners were on the first cart, which apparently passed the point where the explosion occurred. The foreman on the second cart, whose brother was among those trapped, the mine superintendent and three others entered the mine to rescue the trapped miners. They reached 9000 feet (2,743.2 m) into the mine before air quality detectors indicated there was too much carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
to proceed. In addition, repairs they had made to ventilation controls raised fears that increased fresh air to the interior of the mine may cause a second explosion.
Rescue
It was reported that the early hours after the blast were chaotic and the mining company did not call a specialized mine rescue crew until 8:04 a.m. — more than 90 minutes after the blast. The company notified the Federal Mine Safety and Health AdministrationMine Safety and Health Administration
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal accidents, to reduce...
(MSHA) at 8:30. The company said it started its calls at 7:40. MSHA records two calls at 8:10 to personnel who were out of town due to the holiday. MSHA arrived on site at approximately 10:30 am. The first rescue crew arrived ten minutes later.
High levels of carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
(CO) and methane gas in the mine atmosphere made it necessary for rescuers to wait 12 hours after the explosion to begin to reach the miners. Tests taken through holes drilled from the surface showed that the air near where the miners were last known to be stationed contained 1,300 parts per million of CO. More than 200 parts per million is considered unsafe. However, each miner had a Self-Contained Self-Rescuer (SCSR) device that provided one hour of breathable air. Emergency supplies were stored in 55-gallon drums (205 L drums) within the mine.
Even after the gases abated, rescue teams had to proceed with caution, continually testing for hazards such as water seeps, explosive gas concentrations, and unsafe roof conditions. This limited their rate of progress to 1000 feet (304.8 m) an hour. They checked in every 500 feet (152.4 m), and then disconnected their telephones until the next checkpoint in order to avoid the possibility of a spark
Electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge is a serious issue in solid state electronics, such as integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon and insulating materials such as silicon dioxide...
creating another explosion. MSHA had deployed a 1,300-lb. (520 kg) robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
into the mine as well, but pulled it out after it became mired 2600 feet (792.5 m) from the mine entrance.
After more than nine hours of searching, rescue teams pulled out of the mine at about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, January 3. Through an agency spokeswoman, Bob Friend of MSHA said the teams were withdrawn when they discovered that the mine's atmospheric monitoring system was still running. Due to the air quality in the mine, power to the system could have caused another explosion according to safety experts. Also, a borehole
Borehole
A borehole is the generalized term for any narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquid or gases , as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site...
being drilled to check the mine's air quality was nearing the mine roof. "The bit and steel being used was not equipped to use water, which meant the bit was hot and could ignite an explosive mixture of methane," Friend told a reporter from the West Virginia Gazette. Rescue teams returned to the mine 6:22 a.m.
Locating the trapped miners
The 13 trapped miners were about 2 miles (3.2 km) inside the mine at approximately 280 feet (85.3 m) below ground. Five four-man teams tried to make their way through the entries, which were 5.5 feet (167.6 cm) high. By 12:40 p.m. on January 3, they had reached 10200 feet (3,109 m) into the mine. It was believed that the trapped miners were somewhere between 11000 to 13000 ft (3,352.8 to 3,962.4 m) from the entrance.Two 6.25 inches (15.9 cm) holes were drilled from the surface into areas where the miners were believed to be; microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s and video camera
Video camera
A video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
s lowered into them for ten-minute periods did not find any signs of life. Air quality tests performed through the first hole on the morning of January 3 indicated that carbon monoxide (CO) levels in that part of the mine were at 1,300 parts per million. Officials called this "very discouraging." A third hole encountered groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
and could not be drilled all the way down. However, the miners were trained to find a safe part of the mine and barricade themselves into it in the event of an explosion or collapse. Experts expected that a third hole, if successful, could expand the opening and provide a better way of rescuing the miners than proceeding into the mine. Miners are required to carry a SCSR that provides a one-hour supply of oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
for evacuation. The first hint of the miners' status came around 5:00 p.m. on January 3 when it was reported that a body had been found. Because of the location of the body, those familiar with the miners and their jobs believed it was the fire boss
Fire boss
A fire boss is a person employed at a mine or state certified official, responsible for examining a mine for dangers, particularly explosive, poisonous or suffocating gases. Usually the fire boss is the first person to enter a mine, to verify its safety, before a shift crew enters...
, Terry Helms. Hours later, just before midnight, rumours spread quickly that 12 of the 13 miners had been found alive. Thirty minutes later, the rescue team told company officials that the original report was incorrect.
In the early morning of January 4, 41 hours after the incident began, 12 of the miners were found dead. Randal L. McCloy, Jr. was found alive, but in critical condition. The remaining miners were found at the working face of the second left portion of the mine, some 2.5 miles (4 km) from the mine entrance, behind a "rough barricade structure", as described by Hatfield. This is the same area where drillings indicated high carbon monoxide levels.
About three hours after the reports, company CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
Ben Hatfield
Ben Hatfield
Bennett K. Hatfield is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Coal Group, Inc. , a position he has held since March 2005. He gained attention during the Sago Mine disaster in early January 2006. Hatfield holds a B.S...
confirmed that McCloy was the only survivor. This was the first official report from the company since the victims were found. Soon after the first reports of survivors, ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
s and the hospital emergency room were on standby. Hatfield said that carbon monoxide levels in the area where the miners were found was in the range of 300–400 ppm when the rescue team arrived. This is near the safe threshold level to support life for 15 minutes. He said that carbon monoxide poisoning was the likely cause of death.
"Our intentions are to do the right thing and protect our people the best we can," Hatfield said. "Federal and state mining officials will conduct a thorough investigation of the accident with full company support."
Sole survivor's account of explosion
The only survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., wrote a letter to the families of the victims, which was published in the Charleston Gazette on April 28, 2006. McCloy wrote that three weeks before the explosion, he and Junior Toler found, while drilling a bolt hole, a gas pocket, which detectors confirmed the presence of methane. "We immediately shut down the roof bolter, and the incident was reported up the line to our superiors. I noticed the following day that the gas leak had been plugged with glue normally used to secure the bolts."He remembered that on January 2, 2006, just after exiting the mantrip
Mantrip
A mantrip is a shuttle for transporting miners down into an underground mine at the start of their shift, and out again at the end. Mantrips usually take the form of a train, running on rails and operating like a cable car, but mantrips may also be self-powered, for example by a diesel engine...
, "the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable...." At least four of the rescuers' emergency oxygen packs were not functioning. "I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around." Because of the bad air, they "had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet."
They "attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface."
After becoming exhausted, they stopped trying to signal. "The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths... I could tell that it was gassy." According to McCloy, Toler and Anderson tried to find a way out. "The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas." At that point the miners, despite their fears, "began to accept our fate. Toler led us all in the Sinner's Prayer
Sinner's prayer
A sinner's prayer is an evangelical term referring to any prayer of repentance, spoken or read by individuals who feel convicted of the presence of sin in their life and desire to form or renew a personal relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. It is not intended as liturgical like a...
. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones."
McCloy "became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it were our time to go, then God’s will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue."
On January 5, notes written by some of the deceased miners were submitted to family members.
Early response of government officials
West Virginia Governor Joe ManchinJoe Manchin
Joseph "Joe" Manchin III is the junior United States Senator representing West Virginia. Manchin, a Democrat, was Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010...
arrived at the Sago site on January 2. Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. She is a member of the Republican Party...
was also among the officials that joined the family members at the scene. The Mine Safety and Health Administration had approximately 25 people on the scene at any given time, according to the Agency's Web site.
Mine closure
On March 11, 2006, Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that federal inspectors had approved the Sago mine for reopening the previous day.
On March 16, 2006, Village Voice reported that the mine reopened March 15, 2006. Village Voice criticized, "So, not knowing what caused the explosion, or whether the mine remains vulnerable to that kind of accident, the mine owners started operations again as the federal and state safety officials stood by." ICG closed the mine on March 19, 2007. On December 12, 2008, they announced on their website they would be closing it permanently.
Investigation by the West Virginia government
WV Governor Joe ManchinJoe Manchin
Joseph "Joe" Manchin III is the junior United States Senator representing West Virginia. Manchin, a Democrat, was Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010...
announced on January 9 that he had appointed J. Davitt McAtteer, assistant secretary for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Clinton administration to oversee a state probe of the disaster. The Charleston Gazette named the committee to the Sago probe as including former miner Mike Caputo
Mike Caputo
Michael "Mike" Caputo is a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 43rd District since 1996. He is currently Majority Whip. He was born and raised in Rivesville, WV and attended Rivesville Elementary School and Rivesville High School...
, D-Marion; Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer; and Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; and Sens. Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall; Shirley Love, D-Fayette; and Don Caruth, R-Mercer.
On March 1, 2006, Governor Manchin announced the March 14, 2006, hearing had been rescheduled for May 2, delayed at the request of several family members of miners who died in the disaster. McAteer said the complex investigation warranted a careful and thorough investigation only with all the facts. McAteer would moderate the joint federal-state hearing to be held on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, to include a panel of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety & Training (WVMHST), state, labor and industry officials. Manchin said, "I'm confident that May's public hearings will be very useful in providing crucial information to the families of these fallen miners." McAteer said MSHA and the state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training have agreed to publish transcripts of the so far secret interviews in the federal investigation before the May 2 hearing.
The commission released its preliminary report on the Sago disaster on July 19, 2006.
Investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor
On January 4, 2006, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, announced that the Mine Safety and Health AdministrationMine Safety and Health Administration
The Mine Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to enforce compliance with mandatory safety and health standards as a means to eliminate fatal accidents, to reduce...
(MSHA) would launch a full investigation to determine the cause, and to "take the necessary steps to ensure that this never happens again." The MSHA issued its own release announcing an independent eight-member team that would conduct the investigation including the cause of the explosion, compliance with regulations and the handling of information on the trapped miners' condition. The team would examine the site, interview mine personnel and others with information, review records and plans, inspect any equipment involved and issue any citations for violations. The MHSA site reiterated its team will be headed up by a senior MSHA safety professional who has not been part of the initial inspection and enforcement efforts." On January 9, 2006, David G. Dye, acting assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, announced that "MSHA joins Governor Manchin and the State of West Virginia in announcing that we will conduct a joint investigation into the Sago Mine disaster, which will include a joint public hearing. West Virginia has its own mine safety inspection and enforcement agency, and we want to coordinate closely to ensure that our investigation is thorough and complete...Our full investigative report will also be made available to the families and the public."
It was announced that Richard A. Gates, MSHA district manager in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, would head the team of technical experts. Others would be ventilation experts John Urosek and Richard Stoltz, ventilation supervisor Dennis Swentosky; electrical supervisor Robert Bates, field office supervisor Joseph O'Donnell, engineer Clete Stephan, and special investigator Gary Harris.
UMWA participation
On January 18, 2006, mine owner International Coal Group (ICG) issued a press release objecting to UMWA participation in the investigation, accusing the union of attempting to manipulate a provision of the federal regulations, and seeking to interfere with the investigation in order to exploit the tragedyTragedy (event)
A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
for its own purposes. UMWA International President Cecil Roberts
Cecil Roberts (unionist)
Cecil Roberts is a miner and president of the United Mine Workers of America . He is also a vice president of the AFL-CIO, and sits on the AFL-CIO's executive council.-Early life:Roberts was born on Halloween in 1946...
responded denying ‘manipulation', saying instead that it was fulfilling its responsibility under the MSHA regulations. It counteraccused ICG of attempting to get the identities of the miners who designated the UMWA as their representative. It questioned why they needed to know that, and what they would do with that information.
MSHA filed a motion in federal court to allow UMWA participation and according to Associated Press writer Vicki Smith in her January 26, 2006, story, "Judge says Union can be part of Mine Probe, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Maxwell ordered ICG to allow UMW officials from entering the mine, saying "There's no question that the public interest is best served by a complete and thorough investigation into the occurrence of the problems at the Sago Mine....There is a strong public interest in allowing miners to play a role in this investigation, as it is their health and safety that is at issue. On January 27, 2006, ICG stated its intention to appeal.
MSHA Freedom of Information Act Disclosure Policy
The Sago Mine Disaster brought public attention to criticism of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy first raised by Ellen Smith, editor of Mine Safety and Health News in her July 16, 2004, editorial, "Assault on Freedom of Information: The Public Has A Right to Know How Decisions Are Made."She reported complaints from the UMWA for over a year, from mine operators and by her paper that they could no longer get information from MSHA though the FOIA. She stated that the previous week, "Ed Clair, the U.S. Labor Department’s Associate Solicitor for Mine Safety and Health, disclosed that, without public comment or input, MSHA secretly changed its long-standing policy of routinely releasing inspector notes under the Freedom of Information Act." The prior policy had been in effect since the Mine Act of 1977.
She continued, "Now, the public will no longer be able to get MSHA inspector notes from a mine inspection, unless the operator or miner is willing to go through legal proceedings and the discovery process. Under this new policy, the press is certainly excluded from these notes, miners may be as well, and it certainly hampers an operator's ability to resolve many MSHA enforcement disputes without litigation."
On January 11, 2006, Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) asked Labor Secretary Chao to reverse MSHA's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors' notes in FOIA responses, citing how the agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the recent disaster.
On January 20, 2006, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner
John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from , serving since 1991...
(R-OH), Workforce Protections Subcommittee
United States House Education Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce.-Jurisdiction:The Subcommittee's jurisdiction includes:...
Chairman Charlie Norwood (R-GA) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), sent a letter to Chao, also requesting a reversal.
According to a news release by Boehner, on January 30, 2006, Acting Assistant Secretary for Mine Health and Safety David G. Dye wrote, “I have recently concluded that, given MSHA’s unique statutory framework, inspector notes should generally be released once a citation has been issued (or an inspection is closed without citations), rather than withholding the notes until all litigation is concluded. The policy will be effective
immediately."
Transcripts of interviews
Transcripts of 70 closed-door interviews of Sago miners, mine managers, mine rescue team members and state and federal mine safety inspectors, conducted over the period from January 17, 2006, to April 5, 2006, are available at both the Charleston Gazette and the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training websites. As of April 28, MSHA had not posted the interviews on its site.Transcripts were made public only after The Charleston Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the documents and posted the documents to its website on April 16, 2006. "At first, state officials released a limited number of the transcripts, but then made others widely available after the Gazette obtained them and posted them on the Internet," reported Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward, Jr. in his April 22, 2006, story, "Details of ICG's inquiry into Sago disaster sought."
During his interview with government investigators on March 23, 2006, ICG Vice President Sam Kitts repeatedly refused to discuss the company’s investigation. His Lexington, Kentucky attorney, Maraco M. Rajkovich,who also represented several other ICG employees during the interviews, said ICG had not authorized Kitts to answer questions about the investigation. Rajkovich said he did not know who was authorized to answer such questions.
MSHA publishes details of public hearing
In an April 13, 2006, Federal Register notice, MSHA said state and federal officials would question witnesses at the Sago public hearing. A representative of the Sago victims’ families will be able to submit questions for witnesses.ICG refuses to release records
In that same April 22, 2006, Charleston Gazette story, "Details of ICG's inquiry into Sago disaster sought," staff writer Ken Ward, Jr., reported that investigators from MSHA and the West Virginia Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training were negotiating with International Coal Group (ICG) to release company’s internal investigation, as well as testimony, for a Manchin administration public hearing on the Sago disaster scheduled to start May 2, 2006, at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon."We certainly want to see what they have," said Bob Friend, acting deputy assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Office of the Solicitor, Division of Mine Safety and Health
Attorneys James Crawford, Tim Williams and Bob Wilson will assist in the investigation according to MSHA's January 4, 2006, release available on the website.Investigation by the U.S. Senate
On January 9, 2006, on his congressional website, the Senate Appropriations CommitteeUnited States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
: Labor, Heath Human Services and Education Subcommittee's ranking Democrat, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
, announced a January 19, 2006, hearing, crediting Senator Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter
Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...
(R-PA), and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin
Tom Harkin
Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives ....
, ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, for their help in its scheduling.
"The families of the Sago miners deserve to know what happened in that mine,” Byrd said. “Just as importantly, miners and their families across this country want to know that steps are being taken to prevent others from ever experiencing such pain."
He added, "The investigation at the Upshur County mine will tell us what caused that deadly explosion. But one conclusion is already evident: it’s time for the decisions affecting America’s miners to be made with their best interests at heart. That should be the legacy of the Sago miners:
- In Congress, there are tough questions to be asked of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Is enforcement of coal mining regulations tough enough? Are the regulations on the books today current enough to handle the challenges posed by 21st century coal mining? Are mine hazards being minimized? These and other issues demand scrutiny, and the miners’ families deserve the answers.
On January 13, on its website, the committee issued a notice of the subcommittee meeting. Federal witnesses would be Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health David Dye, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Bob Friend, Coal Mine Safety and Health Administrator Ray McKinney and Mine Safety and Health Associate Solicitor, Edward Claire. Industry witnesses will be International Coal Group (ICG) President and CEO Ben Hatfield, West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton and National Mining Association Vice President for Safety and Health Bruce Watzman. West Virginia witness will be investigation leader Davitt McAteer. Labor witness will be UMWA International President Cecil Roberts.
On January 18, 2006, on its website, the committee rescheduled the hearing for January 23, 2006. The witness list remained the same.
The Republican members of the subcommittee were Arlen Specter (Chairman) (PA), Thad Cochran (MS), Judd Gregg (NH), Larry Craig (ID), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Ted Stevens (AK), Mike DeWine (OH) and Richard Shelby (AL). The Democratic members were Tom Harkin (Ranking Member) (IA), Daniel Inouye (HI), Harry Reid (NV), Senator Herb Kohl (WI), Patty Murray (WA), Mary Landrieu (LA), Richard Durbin (IL).
The written versions of testimony from the hearings were posted on the Appropriations Committee website.
- Ben Hatfield of ICG
- Bruce Watzman of the National Mining Association
- Cecil Roberts of the UMWA
- Chris Hamilton of the West Virginia Coal Association
- David Dye of MSHA
- Davitt McAteer of the West Virginia's Governor's investigation
Second investigation by the U.S. Senate
In a January 10, 2006, letter found on his website, Senator Jay RockefellerJay Rockefeller
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...
(D-WV) wrote Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee chairman Mike Enzi
Mike Enzi
Michael Bradley "Mike" Enzi is the senior U.S. Senator from Wyoming and a member of the Republican Party.Raised in Thermopolis, Wyoming, Enzi attended George Washington University and the University of Denver. He expanded his father's shoe store business in Gillette before being elected mayor of...
(R-WY) and ranking Democrat, Edward M. Kennedy (MA). Also signing the letter were coal state senators Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
(D-WV), Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
(R-PA), Paul Sarbanes
Paul Sarbanes
Paul Spyros Sarbanes , a Democrat, is a former United States Senator who represented the state of Maryland. Sarbanes was the longest-serving senator in Maryland history, having served from 1977 until 2007. He did not seek re-election in 2006, when he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Ben Cardin...
(D-MD), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Shelby
Richard Shelby
Richard Craig Shelby is the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was its chairman from 2003 to 2007....
(R-AL), Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh
Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...
(D-IN), Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
(D-IL), Jim Bunning
Jim Bunning
James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career...
(R-KY), Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
(D-CO), Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader.- Early life, education, and military service :...
(R-KY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). In a press release about the letter, Rockefeller stated,
"We need to know why the administration thinks that it can carry out a policy where it is committing fewer and fewer resources to meet an industry that has more and more needs."
"We need congressional hearings not only so that we can determine what happened at Sago, but, more broadly, about the state of mine safety across West Virginia and across the country."
Enzi held a confirmation hearing January 31, 2006, for Bush's nominee to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Richard Stickler. He announced he had written a January 5, 2006, letter to Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao requesting “regular and comprehensive briefings on the progress and preliminary findings” of the MSHA investigation. and enforcement efforts at the Sago mine.
Enzi held an oversight hearing March 2, 2006, into safety procedures and enforcement measures related to the disaster.
Investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives
On January 4, 2006, Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Major OwensMajor Owens
Major Robert Odell Owens is a New York politician and a prominent member of the Democratic Party. He is also a former Congressman, having represented the state's 11th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and was...
(D-NY) wrote a letter posted on Miller's website to House Education and Workforce Committee: Workforce Protections Subcommittee
United States House Education Subcommittee on Workforce Protections
The House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce.-Jurisdiction:The Subcommittee's jurisdiction includes:...
Chairman John Boehner
John Boehner
John Andrew Boehner is the 61st and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party, he is the U.S. Representative from , serving since 1991...
(R-OH) asking for a hearing, saying Congress had abdicated its oversight responsibilities on worker safety issues, while the Bush administration filled worker safety agencies with industry insiders.
On January 5, 2006, Representative Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Moore Capito is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. She is a member of the Republican Party...
(R-WV) wrote Chairman Boehner requesting him to schedule a hearing at the earliest possible date and posted the letter on her congressional website.
The chairman, along with subcommittee member Charlie Norwood
Charlie Norwood
Charles Whitlow Norwood, Jr., D.D.S. was an American politician and dentist, serving as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 until his death...
(R-GA), issued a statement posted on the committee's website, "We expect MSHA to produce a thorough account of the events that occurred before, during, and after this tragedy, and the Committee will closely monitor this investigation to ensure its timely completion. Following a full accounting of the facts, the Committee will examine the results of the investigation and determine what appropriate steps may be necessary to ensure a similar tragedy never happens again."
Lightning strike and seismic activity
Weatherbug, a Germantown, MD-headquartered weather tracking system reported on January 6, 2006, that, “the evidence suggests that the lightning strike could have caused the explosion due to the correlation between the timing and location of the lightning strike and seismic activity.”The company's equipment detected 100 lightning strikes in the region within 40 minutes of the explosion. A single, powerful lightning strike registered at or near the mouth of the Sago mine at 6:26:36 a.m. This strike held a particularly strong positive charge of 35 kAmps. (A typical strike is 22 to 25 kAmps and relatively rare positive strikes tend to be especially destructive.)
Dr. Martin Chapman, PhD, a Virginia Tech research assistant professor, found that two independent sensors recorded a minor seismic event, possibly from the explosion, 2 seconds later at 6:26:38 a.m.
Use of foam rather than concrete seals
In his January 13, 2006, story in the Charleston Gazette, "Sago blast area was recently sealed" Ken Ward, Jr., reported that state officials approved the use of “Omega blocks,” a dense foam product, to seal the mine, rather than the required concrete blocks. Deputy director of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training told the state board of that group that, “the seals, made with foam, could withhold pressures of five pounds per square inch.”U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration rules seals to be built using “solid concrete blocks” or alternate materials that will withstand 20 pounds per square inch of pressure.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in its report, "Protecting Coal Miners from Gob Explosions through Explosion-Resistant Mine Ventilation Seals (1993–2005)" reported that "without reliable seal designs, miners' lives could be in jeopardy from the consequences of an underground explosion."
NIOSH also noted that in an explosion caused by lightning in a sealed area of the Gary 50 Mine, 4 ft (1.2 m) thick pumped cement seals tested by NIOSH and approved by MSHA, "effectively contained the explosion, thereby sparing the miners working nearby."
Proximity with active gas and oil wells
In the January 13, 2006,Charleston Gazette story "Gas wells near mine", staff writersPaul J. Nyden and Ken Ward Jr. report that according to just released state mine permit records, at least four natural gas wells were in close proximity to the mine. One appeared to be adjacent to the sealed area where the explosion is believed to have occurred.
Sparks from restarting machinery after holiday
On January 3, 2006, Jeselyn King and Betheny Holstein, writing for the Wheeling Intelligencer had written a story "Explosion's Cause Remains Unknown". Former MSHA official Davitt McAteer said restarting operations after a holiday weekend may have caused sparks to ignite an excess buildup of methane gas and coal dust in the mine.Media coverage
News of the Sago mine explosion first broke widely to television viewers on the cable news channel CNN. At approximately 11:41 a.m. on January 2, during CNN Live TodayCNN Live Today
CNN Live Today is an American television news program on CNN. It aired weekdays from 10:00 a.m. ET to 12:00 p.m., and also during Your World Today from 12:20 p.m. ET to 12:32 p.m. It was last anchored by Daryn Kagan...
, anchor Daryn Kagan
Daryn Kagan
Daryn A. Kagan is creator and host of the award-winning , a media company specializing in inspirational and motivational news content...
, announced, "This just in, news out of West Virginia, an underground explosion at a coal mine there."
Hundreds of media, reporters, camera crews, satellite trucks and photographers descended on the small community, taking over yards and setting up camp outside the Sago Baptist Church and at the mine's coal processing plant. Officials had turned a small second-story room there into a make-shift briefing room for the media.
CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
with Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
, Fox News with Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...
and MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
with Rita Cosby
Rita Cosby
Rita Cosby is a television news anchor and correspondent, radio host, and best selling author. She is currently a Special Correspondent for the CBS syndicated program Inside Edition, specializing in interviewing newsmakers and political figures...
all broadcast live from Sago throughout the night of January 3 and early morning of January 4 as the story continually changed.
Shortly before rumors started spreading that the miners were found alive Tuesday night (and then reversed Wednesday morning), a reporter there posted a description of the scene on his blog, My West Virginia (now defunct)
- Sago Road, where the mine is, follows the Buckhannon River and a set of railroad tracks. When you arrive just outside the Sago Baptist church, where relatives and friends of the miners have gathered, you see cars. Everywhere, lining the roads, in people's yards, there are cars as far as you can see. Then, you see satellite trucks and TV crews and reporters and photographers. They're also everywhere and you can tell our presence, just under 24 hours at the time, is taking a toll on the small town and the little area we've taken over.
Miscommunication and wrong reports
About 11:50 p.m. on January 3, news services including the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that 12 of the 13 miners had survived, attributing the reports of survivors to the family members. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.com and other websites sported headlines including "We Got 12 Alive!" as well as "Believe in Miracles: 12 Miners Found Alive."
Governor Manchin, who was in the church with the families when the first incorrect reports began to come in, was soon seen outside the church celebrating "a miracle." The governor later said that his staff never confirmed that there were survivors, but was euphoric along with the families at what seemed to be remarkable news.
Congresswoman Capito appeared on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
about 1:00 a.m. and said 12 miners had been brought out alive.
At about 2:45 a.m., Lynette Roby, a resident of Sago, and her two young children told CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
that Hatfield had just told family members in the church that a miscommunication had taken place and only one of the 13 miners had been found alive. The family members reportedly began to shout and call mine officials "liars" and at least one person in the church had "lunged" at mine officials.
Weeks later, CNN's Randi Kaye
Randi Kaye
Randi Kaye is an American television news journalist for CNN. She is currently a national correspondent for the channel.-Early life and career:Kaye graduated cum laude from Boston University with a degree in broadcast journalism....
told an audience at West Virginia University that she had been listening to Cooper's interview from outside the Sago Baptist Church.
"I heard this unfolding on our air and I must have said something out loud because there was a print photographer standing beside me and he said, 'Did you just say what I think you said?' and I said, 'I think there's only one alive,'" the CNHI News Service quoted Kaye as saying.
"Then one of our producers was screaming in my ear, 'Get confirmation. Get confirmation,'" Kaye said.
Hatfield confirmed the miscommunication at a press conference shortly thereafter. Initial information indicated that the miscommunication occurred between the rescue team in the mine and the command center at the surface. According to Hatfield, several personnel at the center were able to simultaneously hear the communications directly from the rescue team. Because of the state regulatory officials on site, both company and state officials, including representatives from the governor's office, were present at the command center. Hatfield estimated that 15–20 minutes elapsed before they learned that there was in fact a miscommunication.
"Bad information"
The CEO said he did not know how the reports of 12 survivors spread, and noted that ICG never officially made that statement, calling it "bad information" that "spread like wildfire." He said that the information could have been spread through "stray cell phone communication." "I have no idea who made that announcement," he said, "but it was not an announcement that International Coal Group had authorized."Asked by reporters why the company allowed rumors to circulate for several hours, Hatfield said officials had been trying to clarify and verify information before putting family members on an even worse emotional roller coaster. However, Fox correspondent Bill Hemmer
Bill Hemmer
Bill Hemmer is an American television-news anchor. He is a co-host of America's Newsroom on the Fox News Channel.-Early life and education:...
said he was "ashamed" of how the media repeatedly reported the existence of survivors even as reporters and producers themselves were growing to understand that, in his words, "something didn't add up."
Hemmer noted that the coal company, which had been quite punctual in its dealings with the media throughout the rescue attempt, had not given any information to corroborate the allegations that 12 miners had been rescued, and that the always-available Manchin was nowhere to be found, yet the cable news channels continued to report the story anyway until doctors in a hospital many miles away stated that they had had no contact with emergency service personnel about any of the miners except for McCloy.
Speaking on MSNBC's
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
program, Lisa Daniels speculated that erroneous reports about survivors on local radio stations were heard by mine officials, causing them to question the accuracy of their own information stating that 12 of the 13 were dead, which in turn delayed an official announcement. 12 died and one survived.
Wrong headlines
Many Wednesday morning newspapers in the United States erroneously reported on their front pages that 12 miners were found alive. USA Today ran a headline in their East Coast edition that read "Alive! Miners beat odds". The printed New York Times attributed its information to the family members, but the Times's website initially displayed a headline that expressed the live rescue as fact. Others, such as the Washington Post, were unclear in their attributions.In a published report on the website of the newspaper trade journal Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher is a monthly magazine covering the North American newspaper industry. It is based in New York City. E&P calls itself "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" and describes itself on its website as "the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the North...
, the editor of The Inter-Mountain
The Inter-Mountain
The Inter-Mountain is an afternoon daily newspaper serving Central West Virginia and is headquartered in Elkins. As of 2006, its circulation was quoted at 11,000....
, a local afternoon daily based in Elkins, West Virginia
Elkins, West Virginia
Elkins is a city in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The community was incorporated in 1890 and named in honor of Stephen Benton Elkins , a U.S. Senator from West Virginia. The population was 7,032 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County...
, blamed the national media's inaccurate reporting on a lack of knowledge of local culture. "We get a lot of people here who sometimes believe they have an inside story because they hear it on a police scanner or listen to a conversation," Linda Skidmore said. "We know to be cautious of those situations."
Media criticism of MSHA
Some made broader criticisms of how mine safety is handled by the federal government in the aftermath of the disaster; supporters of the Bush administration strongly questioned this criticism.For instance, critics suggested that the severity of the accident's aftermath was related in part to inadequate safety standards endorsed by the MSHA under David Lauriski, a mining industry executive appointed to head the agency by George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. On January 6, 2006, Scott Lilly, a columnist for the Center for American Progress
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
wrote about Lauriski in his article, " MSHA and the Sago Mine Disaster: How Many Brownies are there in this Administration?." Such criticism was not new; an August 9, 2004, story in the New York Times by Christopher Drew and Richard A. Oppel, Jr., "Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid" had summed up Lauriski's record. Other problems cited included the rejection of a proposed clarification of an existing standard, "Escapeways and Refuges," by Lauriski's administration, which requires that a mine "shall have two or more separate, properly maintained escapeways to the surface...."
A January 5 editorial in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
explicitly linked the safety conditions at the mine to the effects of "an industry with pervasive political clout and patronage inroads in government regulatory agencies." It noted that "political figures from both parties have long defended and profited from ties to the coal industry," and asserted that "the Bush administration's cramming of important posts in the Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
with biased operatives" created doubts about mine safety, singling out J. Steven Griles, a former mining lobbyist
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
and onetime deputy secretary of the Interior who, The Times alleged "devoted four years to rolling back mine regulations." Federal responsibility for enforcing the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 amended the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969. It can be found in the United States Code under Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining, Chapter 22, Mine Safety and Health...
, which governs the activities of the MSHA, was transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
in 1978.
A second editorial in the Times, on January 6 discussed budget cuts to the MSHA and "the Bush administration's ... [appointment] of a raft of political appointees directly from energy corporations to critical regulatory posts" in the context of the disaster, suggesting that the Sago 12 "might have survived if government had lived up to its responsibilities."
Other commentators, including Scott Shields
Scott Shields (activist)
Scott Shields is an American blogger and Democratic Party political activist. Born in Englewood, New Jersey in 1978, he grew up in Morris County, NJ and graduated from Montville Township High School...
, a blogger for MyDD
MyDD
MyDD is a collaborative politically progressive American politics blog. It was established by Jerome Armstrong in 2001. Its name was originally short for "My Due Diligence." In January 2006, the name was changed to "My Direct Democracy" as part of a site redesign, with the new tagline "Direct...
, Kevin Drum
Kevin Drum
Kevin Drum is an American political blogger and columnist. He was born in Long Beach, California and now lives in Irvine, California.-Education:...
, a blogger for The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly
The Washington Monthly is a bimonthly nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C.The magazine's founder is Charles Peters, who started the magazine in 1969 and continues to write the "Tilting at Windmills" column in each issue. Paul Glastris, former...
, and Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
also linked the presence of Republican-appointed coal mining executives in the MSHA to the tragedy.
Jack Spadaro, a former director of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy
United States National Mine Health and Safety Academy
The United States National Mine Health and Safety Academy is a federal academy responsible for training the mine safety and health inspectors and technical support personnel of the Mine Safety and Health Administration....
who was fired after participating as a whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
in a prior case involving the MSHA, made similar statements, referring to the current Bush administration's "reluctance to take the strong enforcement action that's sometimes necessary" in an appearance on the show Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
. Spadaro was criticized as "extreme left-wing" for his statements by host Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
.
The MSHA, on a "Questions and Answers" page regarding the incident, has strongly disputed many of these criticisms. In particular, the administration noted that the Sago mine was not an "accident waiting to happen" as the MSHA had never cited the mine for violations that would lead to "immediate risk of injury." It noted also that it had exercised its right to shut down various parts of the mine, eighteen times in 2005, until safety problems were corrected.
Most relevant to the criticisms discussed in this section, the MSHA explicitly disputed the suggestion that "MSHA has grown 'too soft' on mine operators and has not been aggressive enough in enforcing the Mine Act." It noted that between 2000 and 2005, the number of citations it had issued had increased by 4%, and the number of coal-mine specific citations had increased by 18%.
Dennis O'Dell, of the United Mine Workers of America union, disputed this response, suggesting that the fines MSHA handed to companies for these violations were too small to force action. A Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
"investigative report", published on January 7 and containing reference to the official MSHA response, concluded that "Since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has been more lenient toward mining companies facing serious safety violations, issuing fewer and smaller major fines and collecting less than half of the money that violators owed."
West Virginia University
On February 13, 2006, The West Virginia University Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism convened a panel of six journalists for a forum entitled “Searching for a Miracle: Media Coverage of the Sago Mine Disaster.” According to the School's website, the forum covered the "challenges faced by journalists covering the story, the lessons they learned and the role that 24-hour news coverage may have played in one of the biggest media faux pas of the century."Moderator Kelly McBride, Ethics Group Leader for Florida's Poynter Institute
Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a non-profit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's mission statement says that "The Poynter Institute is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of...
was quoted by the Charleston Gazette's February 14, 2006, story,"Forum at WVU examines media coverage of Sago Mine disaster" by Ry Rivard, as saying, "There were real people involved in this story. Real people who didn’t deserve to become the epicenter of a news event....Journalism is supposed to be a service to communities."
Mark Memmott, a media issues reporter for USA Today said, "Out there in the real world the story is that mines aren’t safe, and why did it take so long for rescuers to get there.... Just because we did this panel doesn’t mean we think the media blowing it is the big story."
According to Memmott, the New York Times, without directly quoting Joe Thornton, West Virginia's deputy secretary for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said Thornton had confirmed “rescued miners were being examined at the mine shortly before midnight and would soon be taken to nearby hospitals. Mr. Thornton said he did not know details of their medical condition.”
Scott Finn, the first Charleston Gazette reporter on the scene, argued that a spokesperson from the state or local government or from the coal company would have lessened confusion. “We didn’t know who to go for the truth.”
CBS News producer Mike Solmsen and reporter Sharyn Alfonsi agreed.
Also appearing were CNN's Randi Kaye and the New York Daily News’ Derek Rose.
C-SPAN's American Perspectives: Katrina Recovery & W.V. Mining Disaster aired the forum on February 18, 2006, and has a video of the forum available online as clip 24738.
West Virginia Legislation: SB 247
After the Sago Mine disaster, the state legislature passed Gov. Joe Manchin's SB247 on the January 23, 2006, the same day it was submitted. The bill created a new mine emergency-response system and required coal companies to provide miners with additional emergency air supplies, communications equipment and tracking devices. The governor signed the bill into law on January 27, 2006. Provisions of the law and its history of passage are available on the state legislature's website.Emergency Rules
In a story in the Charleston Gazette on February 3, 2006, "Manchin mine rules contain no deadlines", staff writer Ken Ward Jr. reported on emergency rules filed February 1, 2006, with WV Secretary of State Betty Ireland to implement the law.The Manchin administration can put the requirements into effect as soon as Ireland approves them, or in 42 days if she takes no action. The Governor must submit the rules for a public comment period and revise them accordingly. The emergency rules can remain in effect for 15 months. Final rules require legislative approval, which will likely take place in the 2007 session.
Victims
Of the thirteen miners, Randal L. McCloy, Jr., 26, was the only survivor from those trapped at the Sago mine. He was removed from the site at approximately 1:30 a.m. on January 4, and transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in BuckhannonBuckhannon, West Virginia
Buckhannon is the only incorporated city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, West Virginia, United States, and is located along the Buckhannon River. The population was 5,725 at the 2000 census. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College and the West Virginia Strawberry Festival,...
. After being stabilized there, McCloy was transported by ambulance later that morning to a level 1 trauma center
Trauma center
A trauma center is a hospital equipped to provide comprehensive emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries. Trauma centers grew into existence out of the realization that traumatic injury is a disease process unto itself requiring specialized and experienced...
at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital
West Virginia University Hospitals
West Virginia University Hospitals is a not-for-profit corporation operating the teaching hospitals of West Virginia University.The hospitals include Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU Children’s Hospital, the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center and Chestnut Ridge Center...
, 50 miles (80.5 km) away in Morgantown
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
. He was found to be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide . Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect...
, a collapsed lung
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
, brain hemorrhaging, edema
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
, muscle injury, faulty liver and heart function.
On the evening of January 5, McCloy was transferred to Allegheny General Hospital
Allegheny General Hospital
Allegheny General Hospital is a large urban hospital located at 320 East North Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Allegheny General Hospital, also known locally by the acronym "AGH!", is located in the Central Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh...
in Pittsburgh to receive infusions of oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber to counteract the effects of carbon monoxide. On January 7, he returned to Ruby Memorial Hospital where he remained in a coma. On January 18, doctors reported McCloy was showing signs of gradual awakening. On January 25, doctors reported McCloy was emerging from the coma, but was still unable to talk. On January 26, 2006, West Virginia Hospitals announced that McCloy had been transferred from Ruby Memorial to its HealthSouth Mountainview Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Morgantown, and was under the care of a rehabilitation specialist. He was responsive, could eat, but was still unable to talk. McCloy recovered almost fully after months of physical therapy, but he stated he still suffered from some vision and hearing impairment as well as weakness on the right side of his body.
Family members reported that at least four notes were found. Private funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
s for the 12 deceased miners were held on January 8 to 10, 2006. A public memorial service
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
was held on January 15 for them at West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College is a regionally accredited private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Buckhannon, West Virginia, United States. It has an enrollment of about 1,400 students from 35 U.S. states and 26 countries. The school was founded in 1890 by the West Virginia Conference of...
in Buckhannon. More than 2,000 attended the service, which was televised live on CNN. Among the speakers were Governor Joe Manchin
Joe Manchin
Joseph "Joe" Manchin III is the junior United States Senator representing West Virginia. Manchin, a Democrat, was Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010...
and author and West Virginia native Homer Hickam
Homer Hickam
Homer Hadley Hickam, Jr. is an American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer. His autobiographical novel Rocket Boys: A Memoir, was a #1 New York Times Best Seller, is studied in many American and international school systems, and was the basis for the popular film October Sky...
. Both of West Virginia's U.S. senators, Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
and Jay Rockefeller
Jay Rockefeller
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...
, and Shelley Capito also attended, but did not speak.
Legislative History
On February 1, 2006, SenatorUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
(D-WV) introduced a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor
United States Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....
to prescribe additional coal mine safety standards and require additional penalties for habitual violators. The bills was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Initial cosponors were Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
s Richard Durbin (IL), Tom Harkin
Tom Harkin
Thomas Richard "Tom" Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives ....
(IA), Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
(MA), Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
(IL) and Jay Rockefeller
Jay Rockefeller
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...
(WV). The status of the bill can be tracked on THOMAS
THOMAS
THOMAS is the database of United States Congress legislative information. It is operated by the Library of Congress and was launched in January 1995 at the inception of the 104th Congress...
, the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
's legislative information system
Information system
An information system - or application landscape - is any combination of information technology and people's activities that support operations, management, and decision making. In a very broad sense, the term information system is frequently used to refer to the interaction between people,...
.
Provisions
Senator Byrd's news release on his Senate website outlined some of the provisions of the bill.The 2006 Congressional Record for the statements made by Senators Byrd, Rockefeller, Reid and Kennedy regarding the introduction of this bill runs from page S447 to S452. It can be found on the Government Printing Office site.
- The bill would mandate equipment to communicate with miners, locate miners, and provide sufficient caches of air.
- Rescue teams must be staffed and on site.
- Operators must notify the MSHA immediately when there is an accident. Any coal operator who fails to do so will be subject to a $100,000 fine, and/or 12 to 15 years imprisonment
- The bill would mandate a rapid notification and response system.
- The bill would create a new mandatory minimum penalty of $10,000 for coal operators that show “negligence or reckless disregard” for the safety standards of the Mine Act.
- The bill would nullify an MSHA rule issued in 2004 that authorizes the use of belt entries for ventilation, which may have caused fire in another accident at Alma.
- The bill would create a science and technology transfer office in MSHA to pull research and development ideas from other federal agencies for use in the mines.
- The bill would create an ombudsman in the Labor Department’s Inspector General office for miners to report safety violations.
Using belt air for ventilating working sections in and of itself cannot cause a fire, though it can cause air from a belt fire to enter a working section. The belt entry must be ventilated with intake air regardless of whether the intake air is used to ventilate a working section. That regulations allow for using belt air to ventilate working sections could not have had anything to do with the fire, which occurred in an area out by working sections. Regulations require monitoring of belt air for CO or smoke if air ventilating the belt is also used to ventilate working sections and areas where mining equipment is being installed or removed. CO monitoring systems are very sensitive and, if installed correctly and sensors are functioning properly with low level alarms as is required, they provide early warning of a fire to a constantly manned location on the surface and to all affected areas before conditions become too hazardous for escape. It is extremely likely that this accident would have occurred regardless of whether or not the air was used for section ventilation. Many mines had approval to use belt air before the regulations were passed — by petitioning the courts, by providing safeguards such as CO monitoring and stringent sensor calibration schedules, and through investigations conducted by MSHA. Many of these mines have used belt air to ventilate working sections and areas where mining equipment is being installed or removed for years through the petition process. The extra air is often needed to alleviate the explosive hazards of methane. For most mines using belt air to ventilate working sections and equipment installation and removal areas, the inability to use belt air will increase the hazards associated with higher concentrations of methane in the mine atmosphere.
Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training (MHST)
In the first set of rules, the state Office of MHST will require caches of air supplies to give each miner at least 16 additional devices. Mines with coal seams taller than four feet (1.2 m) must have caches every 2500 feet (762 m) in each working section. In smaller mines, there must be caches every 1250 feet (381 m). Operators must submit plans for cache locations within 30 days for review and suggestions for change; however there is no deadline for equipping the mines with the caches.Coal operators have no deadline to provide miners with improved rescue gear. It also sets no deadline for new communications equipment or tracking devices.
On February 2, 2003, MHST director Conaway said as soon as the equipment becomes available, "we’re expecting them to be in the mines....An operator is going to have to show us that they have it or that it’s on order....If they can’t get them, they are going to have to show us that they have ordered them and that they are trying to get them.”
According to Ward, Chris Hamilton, vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said “I know there are several months of backlog right now...There is still some concern on the reliability of the wireless communications and tracking system....A lot of that is still in the prototype stage and not commercially available.”
This last statement contradicts the finding of a 2003 MSHA report, which called the systems “generally effective” and said the agency “encourages” their use.
Mine and Industrial Accident Rapid Response System
The West Virginia Division of Homeland Security proposes a rule that requests filed under the state Freedom of Information Act “shall be held in abeyance until appropriate notification of next of kin of any deceased or victims that are grievously injured.” The next of kin will have to give consent for the release of information.Any requests for information about mine accidents reported to the new response system must include the “exact dates and times” of accidents and “the intended use of any information provided.”
Jimmy Gianato, the state’s homeland security director, said the language might need to be revised if questions are raised about properly responding to FOIA requests.
Federal legislation: H.R. 4695
On February 1, 2006, Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) filed companion legislation in the House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, where it was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Cosponsors were Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV). Current status is found by searching on the bill number on Thomas, the Library of Congress's legislative information system. The Congressional Record for Rahall's comments is found on page H127. His extended comments are found on pages E 46 and 47.
Emergency Temporary Rules for Mine Operators
On March 9, 2006, David G. Dye, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, announced that MSHA was invoking a power that had only been invoked twice since its formation in 1978.“This...will require the use of proven technologies and techniques to help miners evacuate quickly and safely after a mine accident....We are using the emergency temporary standard to get help into the field as fast as possible.”
A copy of the proposed rules was published that date in the Federal Register.
- Self-Contained Self Rescue Devices (SCSRs): Provide additional SCSRsSelf-contained self-rescue deviceSelf-contained self-rescue device, SCSR, or self-contained self-rescuer, is a portable oxygen source for providing breathable air when the surrounding atmosphere lacks oxygen or is contaminated with toxic gases, eg. carbon monoxide...
for each miner underground in a storage area to be readily accessible in an emergency. - Lifelines Install lifelineLifelineLifeline or Lifelines may refer to:Non-Medical In-Home Services to the Elderly:* Lifeline utility, in New Zealand, an essential service during major emergencies* Crisis hotline:** Lifeline , Australia-based, now international...
s in all primary and alternate escape routes to help guide miners when visibility is poor. - Miner training Quarterly emergency evacuation drills on transferring from one SCSR to another.
- Accident Notification Informing MSHA of an accident within 15 minutes
May 22, 2006, Omega Block moratorium
After a second mine accident, which resulted in five deaths in which the foam blocks did not withstand an explosion at the Kentucky Darby, LLC Mine No. 1 in Harlan, KentuckyHarlan, Kentucky
Harlan is a city in Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,081 at the 2000 census and was estimated at 1,880 in 2007. It is the county seat of Harlan County.-History:...
, David Dye, Acting MSHA director, announced a moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
on the use of the blocks and a requirement to test for methane build up behind the seals.
Writing about the announcement in his May 23, 2006, article, "Mine sealer banned," Brian Bowling of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review noted that "Officials at International Coal Group, which owns the Sago Mine, contend the agency's 20-pounds-per-square-inch standard is inadequate. The Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland, formerly known as Poage Settlement, is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the...
, company hired a structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
, who determined explosive forces in the West Virginia mine reached as high as 60 to 90 psi
Pounds per square inch
The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
."
This assertion was made by the company in its March 14, 2006, news release announcing the reopening of the mine and the findings of its initial study of reasons for the accident.
Music
The band Trailer ChoirTrailer Choir
Trailer Choir is an American country music duo composed of vocalists Vinny Hickerson and Marc Fortney, known by their respective stage names Big Vinny and Butter. The group began as trio with Crystal Hoyt and was signed to Show Dog Nashville, a label owned by Toby Keith, in 2006...
's song "What Would You Say" is a song about the Sago Mine Disaster. The following words appear in the song: "13 men felt trapped in a mine in West Virginia,
only one made it out alive
but their love lives on in the words
I can not wait to see you on the other side"
Crust punk band Appalachian Terror Unit also has a song about the disaster called "Sago".
Claim of divine retribution
On January 15, 2006, members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested the creation of a memorial for the mine disaster victims, claiming the accident was God's revenge.See also
- Mining accidentMining accidentA mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals.Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially in the processes of coal mining and hard rock mining...
- Quecreek Mine RescueQuecreek Mine RescueThe Quecreek Mine Rescue took place in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, when nine miners were trapped underground for over 78 hours, from July 24 to 28, 2002...
(July 2002) - Aracoma Alma Mine accidentAracoma Alma Mine accidentThe Aracoma Alma Mine accident occurred when a conveyor belt in the Aracoma Alma Mine No. 1 at Melville in Logan County, West Virginia caught fire...
(January 19, 2006)
External links
- MSHA page on incident continues to be updated and now contains a PowerPoint Presentation depicting the chronology of events and documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act
- MSHA Data Retrieval System—Mine Identification Number (ID) #4608791
- Sago Mine Disaster Report, prepared by an independent investigation team commissioned by WV Governor Joe Manchin.
- Charleston Gazettes free archive of all articles including those of Ken Ward, Jr.Ken Ward, Jr.Ken Ward, Jr. is a staff reporter for the Charleston Gazette, who has been nationally recognized for his writing on the coal mining industry. He is chairman of the Society of Environmental Journalists First Amendment Task Force, founded in 2002 to "to address freedom-of-information, right-to-know,...
, whose reporting is underwritten by an Alicia Patterson FoundationAlicia Patterson FoundationThe Alicia Patterson Foundation Program was established in 1965 in memory of Alicia Patterson, who was editor and publisher of Newsday for nearly 23 years before her death in 1963.-AFP Fellowship:...
fellowship. Includes links to audio file and pdf transcript of the hearing. - Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
- Center for Disease Control National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health mining safety research portal
- United States Mine Rescuers Association page on Sago
- United Mine Workers detailed description of coal mining terms
- People.com, January 13, 2006. "The Miners: The Lives They Lived", an archive of photos and thumbnail sketches of all thirteen miners
- CNN.com's January 9, 2006, "Profiles: Tallmansville miners"
- State investigations and Coal industry in elections.