25 miners now dead

Press conference on CNN now with Gov Manchin.

Four more are missing and the search for them has been suspended.
:cry: :cry:

add

R.I.P. :cry:

Didn't know he lost an uncle in a mine explosion - 1968.

Big difference in the way this is being handled. One lady lost her son and two grandsons here.
Imagine over 100 violations for this year alone - over fifty last month. These fugging companies get away with murder.

They laugh at the law.

Safety violations? Just contest the violations and you can keep breaking the laws forever, because the govt isn't really serious about enforcing them. After all, isn't West Virginia that place people love to make jokes about? And it's not like 25 celebrities, sports figures or stockbrokers died -- it's just 25 mountain miners who perished. So in a couple of days it will be back to business as usual.

Why doesn't M$Greedia expose these bastards before explosions. All the data they pulled re violations were available before this horrible explosion.

"Hillilbillies" are to be the butt of jokes, not to be associated with "real" people we're supposed to care about.... or think about. Why should the media discuss the plight of Appalachia when they can talk about celebrities or give us 24/7 coverage on the latest story about a philandering politician? Who cares about a bunch of poor working people in the coal fields whose land is being systematically destroyed, whose lives are sacrificed, whose waters are poisoned and whose children go hungry? No one wants to hear about that -- just like no one wanted to hear about Obama's cozy relationship with King Coal and the mining industry -- threads I saved to my journal (if it's still there) and which failed to generate even a shread of discussion.

DU's concern over this issue will be fleeting, and it will be back to the old jokes about poor white "hillbilly" trash in no time.

for sure.

First, one for bookmarking to those intersted in Appalachian issues and coal mining:
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/frontpage/

Second, here are links to some threads in which I tried to generate some discussion about Appalachia, attitudes and the mining industry -- as you will see, the response was underwhelming.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/92
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/54
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/86
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/95
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/93
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/51
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/24
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/theHandpuppet/22

Bookmarking for a weekend read.

"those Massey fuckers need to be tried for murder"

:cry:

:cry: :cry: :cry:

I visited there, Webster Springs (south of this explosion site) for some time in the 90's. I found it depressing. Hard working people at the mercy of coal corps. sad.

This is way too sad. :hi:

Each year when school was over we'd go for a week with mostly the same friends: two doctors and their families, artists, musicians, etc. It was the most gorgeous place we'd ever seen and our kids still talk about events such as hiking along the old coal paths looking for drawing mushrooms, taking a ride on the scenic train, pumping up the freshest water you've ever tasted, indulging on fresh biscuits from the cast-iron woodstove, the boys wandering from cabin to cabin to see just how many breakfasts they could be fed in one day...the list goes on. There was a small waterfall we'd take turns going over (ripped a number of shorts that way!). A bunch of us would gather around picnic tables while the artists would help us on whatever project we brought; the musicians would write music then we'd help tweak it. Nightly campfires w/singing. One doctor was adept w/the banjo and dulcimer so it was quite colorful.

Damn, I miss that place and wish we could go back this year! We always had to make a reservation a year in advance because it was so popular (and reasonably-priced).

loved the hiking and the Elk River...floating on that river was almost surreal...so peaceful.

Mountains, forests, rivers....

...and people barely hanging on in poverty. But yeah, like you said...hard working people at the mercy of the coal corps. There's not much real advocacy for them, because the state is sparsely populated (e.g., not many votes in exchange for the hard travel over bad roads) and, demographically speaking, far more elderly than average.

Most of them have at least an hours' drive to the nearest doctor's office--and that's really only possible in the best of worlds 8 months out of the year, cause the roads are just that fucked. Medicine there is 19th-century level at best.

I saw. Too bad there's coal there period.

Do they know what caused the explosion?

Poor guys, I hope the 4 missing are just trapped and will be rescued.

They call it a "Technological Disaster" at a certain "nuke event" reporting site.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?cid=25593&cat=dis&lang=eng

Coal kills. Power generation though coal needs to be stopped.

Sid

:cry:

I wish the miners would wake up and stand up. Mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living.

public hearings on halting strip mining and mountaintop removal...It had a very similar style, tone and rhetoric to the healthcare townhall disruptors...

I hope the missing get out soon. K&R

And may Blankenship go to hell.

for the miners. RIP. brothers.

after all, they've got to give millions to the Tea Party!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8098346&mesg_id=8098346

:sarcasm:

:grr: :banghead: :argh:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massey_Energy#Mine_safety

On January 19, 2006 a belt line fire killed miners Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 47, at Massey's Aracoma Alma Number 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia. Efforts to fight the fire were hampered by inadequate fire extinguishers, fire house couplings which did not match the water line, and a lack of water in the lines. On December 22, 2008 Massey Energy agreed to pay $4.2 million in civil and criminal penalties for the accident. It is the largest financial settlement in the coal industry's history.

On January 15, 2009 the Charleston (WV) Gazette reported that Aracoma widows Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield urged U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver to reject Massey's plea bargain and fine for the accident.

Widow Bragg stated that it was clear "that Massey executives much farther up the line expected the Alma Mine to emphasize production over the safety of the coal miners inside."

On February 1, 2006, bulldozer operator Paul K. Moss, 58, of Sissonville West Virginia died when his machine ruptured a 16-inch (410 mm) natural gas line at Elk Run Coal Co.'s Black Castle surface mine. The bulldozer was immediately engulfed in flames. According to the Mine Safety and Health Administration report, operator Moss exited the cab but his body was found behind the blade.

On October 8, 2008 Steven Cain, 32, of Comfort, West Virginia was killed at Massey Energy's Independence Coal Justice No. 1 Mine when he was crushed by a railcar. A Mine Safety and Health Administration report concludes Cain was killed because Massey managers assigned him a dangerous job, although he had “little mining experience and minimal training.”

Massey's Safety Policy as stated on its website: "Safety is the top priority for every Massey member. No coal company can succeed over the long term without a total commitment to safety and a significant investment in the necessary training, equipment and personnel. We strive to remain an industry leader in safety by developing new technologies and employing effective training programs to reduce accidents and improve safety for all of the hard-working men and women of Massey Energy."

On April 5, 2010, 25 miners were killed in a mine explosion at the Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine at Montcoal in West Virginia. Safety officials claimed that the mine had previous violations for not properly ventilating methane gas. In the previous year, federal inspectors had fined the company more than $382,000 for violations involving ventilation and equipment at the plant.

And that's just in the last four years! Amazing how much laxity a few tens of thousands of dollars in lavish campaign contributions to judges can buy, ain't it? :grr: :banghead:

those are the best paid jobs in that part of the state :sarcasm:

why, I... I oughta...

:grr: :grr: :grr: