From Wikipedia: The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5, 2010 about 1,000 feet (300 m) underground at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine at Montcoal in Raleigh County, West Virginia. Twenty-nine out of thirty-one miners at the site were killed. Due to the large concentration of toxic gases in the mine, MSHA investigators had to wait for over two months to enter the mine for investigation. Investigators were able to enter the mine on July 2, 2010.
On May 19th, 2011, the independent investigation team released a report which faulted both Massey Energy and the Mine Safety and Health Administration for the blast. Massey was strongly condemned by the report for multiple failures to meet basic safety standards outlined in the Mine Act of 1977. "A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coal fields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk taking," read the report. "The company's ventilation system did not adequately ventilate the mine. As a result, explosive gases were allowed to build up." Also detailed in the report are allegations that Massey Energy threatened miners with termination if they stopped work in areas that lacked adequate oxygen levels. Numerous other state and federal safety standards that Massey failed to comply with were detailed in the report.
Investigators also say that the U.S. Department of Labor and its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) were at fault for failing to act decisively at the mine even after Massey was issued 515 citations for safety violations at the Upper Big Branch mine in 2009. The report lambastes MSHA inspectors for failing to issue a flagrant violation citation which could have fined the company up to $220,000. Investigators claimed that this citation was entirely necessary given Massey's failure to meet basic safety protocols and the investigators found it "disturbing" that the violation was not issued. The failure to issue flagrant violation citations was attributed to MSHA which also failed to notify the miners and their families that they were working in a mine which had not met minimal safety requirements. As further evidence of MSHA's failures in the lead up to the UBB mine explosion, the report discusses how MSHA safety inspectors failed to enforce the safety protocols at Massey Energy's Aracoma Alma #1 mine. In 2007, a fire broke out at the Aracoma Alma #1 mine killing two miners. The report described the fire as "preventable" and cites an internal MSHA review following the fire which found that inspectors "were shocked by the deplorable conditions of the mine" and that MSHA inspectors had "failed" to enforce adequate safety measures. Furthermore the report outlines how in the lead up to the blast the UBB mine "experienced at least three major methane-related events". One in 1997, another in 2003, and a third in 2004. Instead of addressing these issues, "Upper Big Branch management elected to consider each methane outburst or explosion as an anomaly." Furthermore, MSHA officials "did not compel (or to our knowledge even ask) UBB management to implement," safety precautions following these events.
The report claims that Massey used its power "to attempt to control West Virginia's political system." The report cites how politicians were afraid of the company because it "was willing to spend vast amounts of money to influence elections." Massey intentionally neglected safety precautions for the purpose of increasing profit margins according to the report. Safety precautions in mines are "a hard-earned right paid for with the blood of coal miners" read the report's introduction.
In addition to MSHA, the FBI has also launched a probe, investigating possible criminal wrongdoing at the mine, including criminal negligence and possible bribery of federal regulators.
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Dakota Fred About Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)by quirck123378 views
I wonder if we can post videos here now that YouTube/Google has successfully disconnected me from the account?
RootCarl 2 months ago