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A Mining Town Faces Tragedy - Together    [

    The Sago Mine Disaster
    New York Times | Editorial

    Thursday 05 January 2006

    In the long history of coal mine tragedies in Appalachia, few have borne the compound misery suffered in Sago, W.Va., where a dozen families were plunged from exultation to furious grief by a false report that their loved ones had survived a deadly mine explosion on Monday. After realizing the calamitous mistake, mining company officials took three hours to confirm the error and tell the truth to the dead miners' families, further devastating the community.

    Survivors are left with the apology of the company officials and rescuers who eagerly rushed the false word forth. But government investigators must waste no time in ascertaining the actual cause of the blast, for the Sago mine was already notorious for its long list of safety violations and fines.

    The mine, with more than 270 safety citations in the last two years, is the latest example of how workers' risks are balanced against company profits in an industry with pervasive political clout and patronage inroads in government regulatory agencies. Many of the Sago citations were serious enough to potentially set off accidental explosions and shaft collapses, and more than a dozen involved violations that mine operators knew about but failed to correct, according to government records.

    Sadly, in the way mines are often run, the $24,000 in fines paid by the Sago managers last year constituted little more than the cost of doing business. In the Appalachian routine, miners balking at risky conditions down below can quickly forfeit their livelihood if they have no union protection.

    Political figures from both parties have long defended and profited from ties to the coal industry. Whether or not that was a factor in the Sago mine's history, the Bush administration's cramming of important posts in the Department of the Interior with biased operatives from the coal, oil and gas industry is not reassuring about general safety in the mines. Steven Griles, a mining lobbyist before being appointed deputy secretary of the interior, devoted four years to rolling back mine regulations and then went back to lobbying for the industry.

    Just as Hurricane Katrina forced Americans to look at the face of lingering poverty and racism, this mining tragedy should focus us all on another forgotten, mistreated corner of society. The Sago mine disaster is far more than a story of cruel miscommunication. The dozen dead miners deserve to be memorialized with fresh scrutiny of the state of mine safety regulation and a resurrection of political leadership willing to look beyond Big Coal to the interests of those who risk their lives in the mines.

 

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    A Mining Town Faces Tragedy - Together
    By Amanda Paulson
    The Christian Science Monitor

    Thursday 05 January 2005

    Sago, W.Va. - In this small community, tucked in the rolling hills of northern West Virginia, almost everyone is connected to each other - and, by extension, to the coal mines that stretch below. So, when residents learned early Wednesday that only one of 13 miners trapped underground had survived, they shared not only grief and anger - but also a sense of communal support.

    The tragedy - the state's worst mining accident since 1968 - has also caused at least some people here to reconsider the boom that has begun to spread throughout coal country as energy prices have soared.

    "This has kind of made up my mind," says Sam, a resident of nearby Buckhannon who preferred not to give his last name. He worked for about 18 years in mines before leaving to drive a delivery truck in 1991. "I've been offered a mining job every week or so. I was kind of thinking about going back, but now I don't think so," he says.

    While danger has always been part of mining, the chain of events that unfolded here in Upshur County proved especially shocking for residents ever since word spread that an explosion early Monday had trapped 13 workers in an underground mine near Sago. The explosion, the cause of which is under investigation, created so much carbon monoxide that the mine had to be vented for nearly 12 hours before rescue workers could enter.

    High Levels of Carbon Monoxide

    Despite reports that carbon monoxide levels were discouragingly high in the mine, hopes soared briefly shortly before midnight Tuesday when a report surfaced that 12 of the 13 had been found alive. Three hours later, the head of the International Coal Group, which operates the mine, announced that the initial report was wrong and that only one miner had been rescued. Randal McCloy, the youngest of the trapped miners, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

    Some residents were stunned.

    "It's kind of knocked the wind out of us. You're just numb," said Randall Reger, a wastewater treatment salesman who stopped up by Sago Baptist Church the next morning to pay his respects. "Everyone knows somebody, a friend of this person, a nephew of that one. But give it a little bit of time. We're tough around here. This really hurts, but we'll grow from it."

    Other residents, particularly family members of the miners who had kept the long overnight vigil, were angry.

    "I came down from Elkins to see my granddaddy, and now I find out my granddaddy is dead," said Danielle Bennett, one of several family members who expressed outrage over the error.

    It wasn't immediately clear how the error occurred, though it seemed to stem from a miscommunication down at the rescue operation and a cellphone call to a waiting family in the church that gave the news everyone was hoping for.

    Some residents said the community's close ties would help see it through.

    "Everybody looks out for everyone else around here," said Bobby Wolford, who hauls coal from the mines and lives in the tiny Sago community. "That's one good thing about it being so small."

    Some residents were surprised when asked whether the tragedy would bring them closer. "We're already such a close-knit community because we're so small," said Heather Davis, a young, recently married fitness club worker who was helping out at the Sago Baptist Church Wednesday morning. "I'm not sure what the news now will do, but I'm anxious to see how it'll fall out."

    A Defense of Fabric

    Details of the accident were still emerging. One man was found dead by the explosion site, the other 12 had barricaded themselves behind a sheet of fabric to block out the carbon monoxide. The community, while eager for answers about why the explosion occurred and for investigations into the numerous safety violations the mine has reportedly occurred, also wants an explanation for the misinformation that raised people's hopes so high for a few hours. The White House and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration promised a full investigation.

    Miners Get Double or Triple the Pay

    Mining has long been a fixture in Upshur County. Along with timber and the gas and oil fields - all of which have had their boom periods - it's one of the few well-paying jobs in an area where Wal-Mart and the school district are among the employers. Starting pay can be $15 or $20 per hour - double or triple other available work.

    "It's better pay, better retirement, better benefits," said Alton Wamsley Jr., whose father was part of the group of miners who got out when the explosion occurred. Mr. Wamsley, who currently makes hardwood floors, says he plans to join the mines this year, despite the disaster. "As long as there's been a Wamsley in West Virginia, there's been one that worked in the coal mines," he says.

    Many miners have rationalized the hazards inherent in the job.

    "Coal miners play down the danger to themselves and to family members," said Barry Michrina, professor of anthropology at Mesa State College and author of a 1993 book on Pennsylvania mining families. "They have this idea that danger is ubiquitous in the world, so coal mining is not unique. They say, 'Well, you could get killed crossing a street. Danger is everywhere. But, by being vigilant, you can protect yourself.'"

    The work also builds a sense of camaraderie.

    "Many of these men do see themselves as a breed apart," he says. "There's a tradition, a pride in continuing that sort of work. And many of the men like being underground, they don't get worried."

    "It's a little like basketball players, or fishermen or construction workers," added Duane Lockard, professor emeritus at Princeton University and author of a 1998 book chronicling four generations of his West Virginia mining family. "There's a sense that we're all in this together."

    The ranks of miners have thinned considerably as technology has improved.

    Less than 4 percent of Upshur County's workforce is now actively engaged in mining, according to the Census Bureau.

    In his interviews with coal families, Dr. Michrina also found that while confident of their husbands' experience and maturity in working safely in a mine, many women actively discouraged their sons from joining up, fearing they might not be as safety conscious.

    "If it'd been a union mine this never would have happened," said Earl Casto, a former miner whose cousin, Junior Hamner, died in the accident. "This should make all coal miners working open their eyes." Mr. Casto said that his cousin complained frequently about the safety violations that occurred.

    Though angry, Casto and his wife, Betty, were hesitant to point fingers Wednesday morning until they knew more. Instead, they headed to the Sago Baptist Church to offer a quiet prayer for all the miners and their families.

    "This is going to be a sad community for a very long time," said Betty. "People will never forget this."