7 dead, 19 missing W Va. Coal mine.

[iGas]

My condolence to friends & families of the dead and missing.


I was reading up on mining news and came across the bad news.

7 dead, 19 missing in W.Va. coal mine explosion

 

[Schadenfroh]

RIP for those that died. Thoughts and prayers to the families of those impacted by this horrific tragedy.

Hopefully, the missing will be found alive and unharmed.

 

[Zorkorist]

Because Coal Mining is so safe, and Nuclear Plants are so dangerous.

-John

 

[ProfJohn]

More people killed in one mining accident than in the history of civilian nuclear power in this country.

 

[Balt]

Death count is up to 12, with 10 still missing. Apparently the mine has a bit of a history of safety violations, including inadequate ventilation for methane.

In the past year, federal inspectors have cited Massey and fined the company more than $382,000 for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment at the mine run by subsidiary Performance Coal Co. The violations also cover failing to follow the plan, allowing combustible coal dust to pile up, and having improper firefighting equipment.

 

[Zorkorist]

Those deaths are on everone that use energy, including myself.

Coal mines... can you imagine how barbaric, compared to hydro-electric and Nuclear Power.

Coal mines?!

-John

 

[shira]

More people killed in one mining accident than in the history of civilian nuclear power in this country.

More people have died in domestic coal mining accidents than have died in all domestic terrorist attacks.

 

[iGas]

25 killed in West Virginia mine blast

CNN) -- The death toll from Monday's West Virginia mine explosion rose to 25 early Tuesday morning, the mining company said.

 

[Hacp]

While it is sad that these miners have probably died, they knew what they signed up for. Coal mining is not suddenly evil just because a few people died.

 

[Zorkorist]

It's pretty evil in today's world where power can be generated by nuclear power plants boiling water.

-John

 

[Wheezer]

While it is sad that these miners have probably died, they knew what they signed up for. Coal mining is not suddenly evil just because a few people died.

Using that logic when your mom dies at the hands of a drunk driver, she knew the risk when she got in her vehicle and left the house.


Coal mining certainly has it's risks, but that does not mean the the company should shirk its responsibility to keep the workers safe.

The company has been cited for multiple violations within the last month alone, they have been fined $380,000 which is nothing to a company that size. It is cheaper and more economically feasible to pay the fine than make the changes.

Someone high up on the food chain needs to go prison for manslaughter. You put a couple of CEO's in the clink once or twice things will change.

 

[nonlnear]

The company has been cited for multiple violations within the last month alone, they have been fined $380,000 which is nothing to a company that size. It is cheaper and more economically feasible to pay the fine than make the changes.

Someone high up on the food chain needs to go prison for manslaughter. You put a couple of CEO's in the clink once or twice things will change.

Don Blankenship owns the West Virginia Supreme Court and the Governor's office. (Well, he shares ownership of the Governor's office with Mylan Pharmaceuticals, but the two companies' interests are mostly independent of each other...) Justice only comes to West Virginia when things are appealed all the way to SCOTUS.

 

[heyheybooboo]

" ... make good money, five dollars a day. Make any more and I'd move away ... "





--

 

[Blackjack200]

While it is sad that these miners have probably died, they knew what they signed up for. Coal mining is not suddenly evil just because a few people died.

What a shameful and ugly thing to say. I don't even care if this is a troll post, it's unconscionable. Go down to rural West Virginia and see the desperate poverty these people live in. They are trying to make a living.

 

[Linflas]

What a shameful and ugly thing to say. I don't even care if this is a troll post, it's unconscionable. Go down to rural West Virginia and see the desperate poverty these people live in. They are trying to make a living.

My grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia for over 30 years. My mother lived in a company house as a child. Sorry but I can tell you that what Hacp said is fact. They go into those mines every day knowing and accepting the risks. My grandfather had a small black scar above his right eye as a reminder of the dangers and risks in the mines. It came from a large piece of the roof in a tunnel he was working in falling and flattening his lunch bucket like a pancake and grazing him. He also had black lung from his years in the mines and despite all that lived to be 89 years old. Mining today is safer than it has ever been and anything we can do to make it even safer is a good thing but in the end mining is always going to be a dangerous job. 25 died in this accident, 4 are missing and we can only pray that they made it into one of those safety chambers.

 

[dmcowen674]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hacp
While it is sad that these miners have probably died, they knew what they signed up for. Coal mining is not suddenly evil just because a few people died.

Using that logic when your mom dies at the hands of a drunk driver, she knew the risk when she got in her vehicle and left the house.


Coal mining certainly has it's risks, but that does not mean the the company should shirk its responsibility to keep the workers safe.

The company has been cited for multiple violations within the last month alone, they have been fined $380,000 which is nothing to a company that size. It is cheaper and more economically feasible to pay the fine than make the changes.

Someone high up on the food chain needs to go prison for manslaughter. You put a couple of CEO's in the clink once or twice things will change.

Amen :thumbsup:

Condolences to those that have lost loved ones

 

[Blackjack200]

My grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia for over 30 years. My mother lived in a company house as a child. Sorry but I can tell you that what Hacp said is fact. They go into those mines every day knowing and accepting the risks. My grandfather had a small black scar above his right eye as a reminder of the dangers and risks in the mines. It came from a large piece of the roof in a tunnel he was working in falling and flattening his lunch bucket like a pancake and grazing him. He also had black lung from his years in the mines and despite all that lived to be 89 years old. Mining today is safer than it has ever been and anything we can do to make it even safer is a good thing but in the end mining is always going to be a dangerous job. 25 died in this accident, 4 are missing and we can only pray that they made it into one of those safety chambers.

My issue is with the tone of Hacp's post. It's no less callous than watching flag draped coffins come back from Iraq and Afghanistan and dismissing them since "they knew what they signed up for", or saying the same thing about a police officer killed in the line of duty.

There are risks in every activity, and there are reasonable expectations that soldiers, policemen, and miners have, that the risks they take will be mitigated as much as possible.

Obviously there will be an investigation; if it turns out that the mining company was operating in compliance with safety codes, and this accident was essentially unavoidable, then it is just a tragedy that we may try to learn from. If not, I hope that the managment at the mining company is held directly responsible.

 

[Fern]

In the past year, federal inspectors have cited Massey and fined the company more than $382,000 for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment at the mine run by subsidiary Performance Coal Co. The violations also cover failing to follow the plan, allowing combustible coal dust to pile up, and having improper firefighting equipment.

^That needs to be fixed.

Seems to me a lot of safety regulation we have are trying to eliminate events with a very low probability of occurance. OTOH, explosions and fires in mines happen too frequently, and are fatal. So, if your mine is not in compliance, people/miners don't go down until it is.

As it stands, this whole "keep mining and pay just the gov and few hundred thousands" looks more like a scheme to generate gov revenue than protect people.

Fern

 

[Hacp]

What a shameful and ugly thing to say. I don't even care if this is a troll post, it's unconscionable. Go down to rural West Virginia and see the desperate poverty these people live in. They are trying to make a living.

How is this shameful? Coal mining is not evil just because a few people died. What is shameful is that people will use this incident to try and push more regulation, increasing the costs of mining, and therefore risking the jobs of miners.

 

[Hacp]

My issue is with the tone of Hacp's post. It's no less callous than watching flag draped coffins come back from Iraq and Afghanistan and dismissing them since "they knew what they signed up for", or saying the same thing about a police officer killed in the line of duty.

There are risks in every activity, and there are reasonable expectations that soldiers, policemen, and miners have, that the risks they take will be mitigated as much as possible.

Obviously there will be an investigation; if it turns out that the mining company was operating in compliance with safety codes, and this accident was essentially unavoidable, then it is just a tragedy that we may try to learn from. If not, I hope that the managment at the mining company is held directly responsible.

And you have it wrong. I am not dismissing the workers. I am dismissing the coal mine critics. You ask the workers if they would like safer conditions and all of them will say yes. You tell them to choose between safer conditions and more jobs and they will choose the jobs.

 

[UberNeuman]

And you have it wrong. I am not dismissing the workers. I am dismissing the coal mine critics. You ask the workers if they would like safer conditions and all of them will say yes. You tell them to choose between safer conditions and more jobs and they will choose the jobs.

Work or die...

\a lovely jackboot symbol for teh gop........

 

[WHAMPOM]

While it is sad that these miners have probably died, they knew what they signed up for. Coal mining is not suddenly evil just because a few people died.

Ignorance speaks again, a virgin commenting on sexual techniques. The company paid an amount in fines eqaul to one hours profit. On a total of over five hundred safety violations. Prime in the case of this mine was inadequate ventilation to remove Methane build up.