Miners Trapped In WV Coal Mine

I woke up this morning to the news of the emotional roller coaster, to pictures of premature headlines on morning papers, and to a whole lot of finger pointing.

It struck me as Matt Lauer was interviewing on of NBC's reporters that had been there overnight that the media really need to hold back that urge to be the first to grab a headline. Even after airing stories and printing headlines, they (the media) was questioning "why hasn't there been an official confirmation?" and feeling that something just wasn't right. Well DUH! whatever happened to reporting on confirmed facts?

I do not, however, believe the media added to or took away from the roller coaster of emotions those families were experiencing. Sure stunned the rest of us though to hear a "reliable news report" only to find out the news was incorrect.

And, for what it's worth, I do think that the decision to NOT correct bad information with "unknown" information (beyond the assertion that word was sent through police channels that 12 live was not confirmed) was the proper course of action. As cruel as it seems, 1 crushing blow is better than repeated ups and downs.

I can understand the miscommunication, but what I am having a difficult time with is that the families were able to celebrate for 3 hours before being told the sad real news. My prayers are with them today! Someone should have at least gone and told them the information was not correct and they needed to stay unfortunately in the waiting stages for more news.

Sassygerl said:

I can understand the miscommunication, but what I am having a difficult time with is that the families were able to celebrate for 3 hours before being told the sad real news. My prayers are with them today! Someone should have at least gone and told them the information was not correct and they needed to stay unfortunately in the waiting stages for more news.

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I completely agree that they should have gone there personally and told them to hold their horses. However, the CEO did say they sent messages to that end via police channels. Maybe he was unaware that those messages did not get through.

The gov kept claiming he was there to provide the most accurate up-to-date information to the families since he had experienced a similar tragedy in his life. Seems like he could have gone back and corrected the misinformation.

Hindsight...........

That would be so nice if we could go back to the days....everybody wouldnt be so ''SUE'' happy either. I personally don't blame anyone for this. I don't believe anyone should be blamed,sued,etc... I think everybody did what they could do within their power. And I don't think for one second the misunderstanding was done intentional, the CEO the Gov. they all wanted those guys out and alive and safe as much as anybody a few times I thought the CEO was going to faint he looked so distraught. I just hope this doesnt turn into a big blame game or everybody out to get some blood money..

Marthatex said:

It says on msn.com that some overheard cell phone conversations saying that the "rescuers had found them and were checking their vital signs." That was misinterpreted as they were alive. The governor heard "whooping" and even he announced it. He later said he had had reservations. Then Hatfield the union leader came and announced it had all been a mistake. The families say there were no apologies, etc. for the mix-up. Riots broke out. Everyone blaming everyone else.

They wanted it so "bad" everybody jumped to conclusions. That can happen - the newspapers probably had it printed either way and ran with it.

Oh, let's go back to old-fashioned ways, please, no cell phones and jump the gun media and politicos. Such a terribly handled situation.

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I don't blame anyone for this either. The desire to pass on joyful news is a good thing - and good hearted people were just trying to spread happy news to those who were waiting and worrying.

It's sad it turned out this way, but it was the best of intentions that led to this.

this poor woman on tv said " we may be dumb west virginians, but we love our family" God Bless her, this is so sad...She said they dont care about anything but the mine....

LButler said:

This is truly a sad story. Lot of hearts and hopes broken in the wee hours of the morning. I don't think anyone deserves to have a finger pointed at them. I was wide awake this morning when the news was changed to only one survivor and it seems it was an honest, but horrible, mistake.

I don't see any reason to question the doctors in this. Dr. Susan Long at St. Joe's repeated over and over in her press conference about 3 am that she operated in a very small hospital, their goal was to stabilize this man and get him to Ruby Mem. in Morgantown as quickly as possible. At no point did she lead people to believe that she could give a complete diagnosis on his condition. She was honest too that she wasn't sure about the carbon monoxide. He is doing much better according to a radio news report I just heard.

I'm in WV, about 2 hours away from this tragedy, the daughter and sister of coal miners. It is a dangerous job and to point the finger at the coal operator at this point means that someone expected him to play God. Wouldn't that have been nice if he could??

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I agree with Les - EXCELLENT post!!

BadRx said:

No offense intended but the current company that owns this mine just bought it in November 2005. From media reports I realize the violations against this mine is horrendous and I feel it should have been shut down until corrective actions were made, I also feel that we can't place blame against the current owners for the violations that occured prior to them buying the mine.

But I do agree that the CEO and other company officials should have went to the family members and corrected the "misinformation" as soon as they learned that the information was incorrect.

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Thats all I'm trying to say too......
the CEO should of went ASAP & told them.

cheko1 said:

Thats all I'm trying to say too......
the CEO should of went ASAP & told them.

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youre right he should have...

LButler said:

This is truly a sad story. Lot of hearts and hopes broken in the wee hours of the morning. I don't think anyone deserves to have a finger pointed at them. I was wide awake this morning when the news was changed to only one survivor and it seems it was an honest, but horrible, mistake.

I don't see any reason to question the doctors in this. Dr. Susan Long at St. Joe's repeated over and over in her press conference about 3 am that she operated in a very small hospital, their goal was to stabilize this man and get him to Ruby Mem. in Morgantown as quickly as possible. At no point did she lead people to believe that she could give a complete diagnosis on his condition. She was honest too that she wasn't sure about the carbon monoxide. He is doing much better according to a radio news report I just heard.

I'm in WV, about 2 hours away from this tragedy, the daughter and sister of coal miners. It is a dangerous job and to point the finger at the coal operator at this point means that someone expected him to play God. Wouldn't that have been nice if he could??

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This is a great post.

My heart goes out to the families that have lost their loved ones and the one survivor is in my prayers. This is just a horrible, horrible tragedy.

Schmerty_Jones said:

This is wonderful! They are being taken to the hospital! All TWELVE found alive. Halelujah! Helelujah! Haleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee lujah. What a great start to the New Year..Thank be to God!

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Schmerty, my thoughts were the same as yours! This time last year they were still tallying up the dead from the tsunami, I told my daughter this is a great way to start the new year. I dozed off waiting, wondering why 45 minutes had passed since the first ambulance had departed & no others. I awoke about 2:45am & wanted to kick my tv screen in

I think sending the message should have been enough - he tried to tell them. For whatever reason, the police didn't get the message through. He didn't have any solid information at that time, only that the message that 12 survived was not correct, but they didn't know then what the correct number was.

The message might have gotten through, but been ignored as just some excess caution - if I had just heard my loved one was alive, then heard merely that that report was not confirmed - I'd probably ignore that too.

BadRx said:

I was born and raised in a small West Virginia town and have various family members that are miners. Miners do typically get very good benefits/health insurance. While growing up there were several mines within 50 miles. Some were better than others as many companies are. Another difference is that some were union and some were not. When questioning why men/women would do this job, keep in mind that these are the highest paying jobs in the area and as one poster said it's a family thing (grandfather, father, uncles, brothers, etc.) In my town best employers were Vepco (which is now Dominion Power), Westvaco (a paper mill, which after a merger was sold to an acquisition company), Bausch & Lomb (which closed in the early 90s), a tire plant that closed in the 80s or 90s. A limitied number of companies with pay scales below those listed above, but more than minimum wage and other jobs in the area pay minimum wage, at best. For young people that want to stay in the area with their family, working in coal mines seems like a great choice when thinking in terms of salary.

I lived probably 3 or so hours away from Sago. I have only been in that area once, and that was as a young child. So I don't really know what other employers are there to compete with the salary offered by coal mines.

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BadRX ~ Are you from the Cumberland,MD area? I live nearby Cumberland just across the river in WV. You mentioned Westvaco...my husband is a millwright and sometimes works there...small world. He has to go underground at times...it scares me to death. I can relate to these families and feel so sorry for them that I cannot even find the words to express my feelings.




But least we all forget...there is still a miracle at work...Randall McCloy is still alive! His family must feel like they have the lucky ticket...but I'm sure they are also grieved over the others, but thanking the heavens for another chance with him. I bet his wife willnever taste a sweeter iss when she finally gets to him. I find it ironic that he is the one who survived being that his family has stated that his wife was always so worried about him going to work, but when he would leave he would tell her..."The Lord is with you". I think he was the one being watched over...what a story he will have to tell.
So since we can't bring back the others, let's all remember that Randall is holding on up at Ruby...he needs our well wishes now.

Peace be with the families of the other miners. Bless them & keep them.

~* Lifting my hopes to Randall! *~

~That song by Alabama called 40 hour week has played in my head all day today...especially the part ~ "West Virginia coal miners, wanta thank you for your time, do a 40 hour week for a living just to send it on down the line" So true...that's all these folks were doing, just making a life for their family...just heart breaking...

I know exactly what you mean. As it was unfolding on tv I remember thinking (when they were saying over and over that it wasnt confirmed) in my mind thinking, 'oh who cares about the legal mumbo jumbo'.... On another note I do remember them saying NOT CONFIRMED over and over so .... Maybe it took 3 hrs because the CEO and whoever else was in charge wanted to be 100% certain through the medical examiner or whoever it is that calls a person dead as to not make any mistakes,I dont know but isnt it only a doctor who can call a death? That is just my own speculation.

Details said:

I think sending the message should have been enough - he tried to tell them. For whatever reason, the police didn't get the message through. He didn't have any solid information at that time, only that the message that 12 survived was not correct, but they didn't know then what the correct number was.

The message might have gotten through, but been ignored as just some excess caution - if I had just heard my loved one was alive, then heard merely that that report was not confirmed - I'd probably ignore that too.

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In a case of carbon monoxide poisoning, it seems to me that it might be hard to tell dead from barely breathing - that might be why they needed some time to confirm. You wouldn't want to declare someone dead, only to find out they were still alive.

I think the problem in this story is that possibly more than one miner was alive when the rescuers found them, but dying quickly. I have no proof of this, it's just my gut feeling of how a message of survivors got out.

You would have to stabilize these men, get them hooked onto oxygen, secure them to a carrying device before you could even start to take them out - I think they died before they could get them out of there. Therefore, the first message of survivors was not a miscommunication, it was just too early for the public to hear.

I do wish that someone would have corrected the message to the waiting families and, at least, told them there were fatalities and to prepare themselves for the worst.

This is a horrible story for the friends and families of the victims but also the owners of the mine and the rescuers who worked so hard and long. My thoughts and prayers are with them and the miners who have to deal with fears and emotions and return underground to work.

LButler said:

I think the problem in this story is that possibly more than one miner was alive when the rescuers found them, but dying quickly. I have no proof of this, it's just my gut feeling of how a message of survivors got out.

You would have to stabilize these men, get them hooked onto oxygen, secure them to a carrying device before you could even start to take them out - I think they died before they could get them out of there. Therefore, the first message of survivors was not a miscommunication, it was just too early for the public to hear.

I do wish that someone would have corrected the message to the waiting families and, at least, told them there were fatalities and to prepare themselves for the worst.

This is a horrible story for the friends and families of the victims but also the owners of the mine and the rescuers who worked so hard and long. My thoughts and prayers are with them and the miners who have to deal with fears and emotions and return underground to work.

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Very well said Lbutler - and something that I hadn't thought of. It's a sound theory though.

....to walk down there in person, and tell these folks the truth. I'm not talking about suing anyone for this miscommunication....I'm talking about "doing the right thing." ....the "right thing" was not done in this case...

If you are the CEO of a company, it is your responsibility and duty to do things like this...whether or not the situations are good or tragic....you do not pick and choose....you ALWAYS do the right thing....

That is what Giuliani did during the 911 crisis...He did the "right thing" ... he communicated and was out there with the families....I may not agree with him politically, but I appreciated how he handled the 911 tragedy...

The CEO and the execs. of this company should be ashamed that they could not walk their polyester-covered asses a few feet down the road to the church where these families were to tell them the truth...

...better to tell them that everyone died and it ends up that one happened through a miracle to survive than the other way around...

Also, thank you BadRx for the information on the change of ownership of the mine...I am never offended by learning new information...There is an unfortunate history, as government inspectors will tell you, of gross noncompliance in this industry....way worse than for, the railroads, or restaurants, etc...Almost a "we don't hafta, we won't fix anything" type of attitude among many, many mine owners....

If these new owners were the exception, they would have sat with the families and told them the truth...

Sometimes the efforts to stabilize someone can kill them, I think - moving them, giving them oxygen, that could result in enough extra blood flow to damaged organs to kill someone who was already nearly dead. Sometimes their heart may be beating, and would continue for some hours without change, but they are beyond help since any help will kill them. The medical personell have to try, but they could well have found several with a bit of a pulse and heartbeat, but too far gone to save.

It is an excellent sign that the one survivor is responsive - means his brain is probably still there. Hopefully he'll make it, and be able to shed some light.

West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, have a lot of coal mines, Many haven't been in operation for decades, but with the rapid increase in fossil fuel prices, coal being one of them, there is a rush to bring many of the mines back into operation, to capitalize on the price windfall.. While this brings an increase in employment into areas that need it the most, it also greatly raises the chances of coal mine disasters. While safety standards, and the enforcement of them, in the coal mining industry, has improved immensely over the last 30 years, this is another cycle, in the rise, and fall, of coal, as a viable fuel. The burning of coal generates a lot of greenhouse gases, and pollution; it's a very dirty fuel.. This anti-ecology administration has waived off limitations on the generation of greenhouse gases and pollution, and this, along with very high prices, has helped increase the rush to, once again, put the coal mining industry into high gear. It's creating a lot of jobs, which makes the administration happy, but it will also greatly raise the risk of accidents like this. Coal mining is inherently dangerous, and while higher Safety Standards finally started to finally be enforced 30 years ago, the money to be made faded, and the industry slowed down to a much lower level, which made the enforcement of safety standards much easier to implement. In some of these small towns in the hills of West Virginia, "the mine" is the town's sole industry, and to shut the mine down for safety violations, is to put the whole town out of work, and out of money. This often allows mines to stay in operation, while they promise to address the safety issues. Driven by the money to be made, I doubt the "Bureau Of Mines" is prepared to handle all of the coal mining operations coming back into play, to take advantage of this price windfall.

It isn't a very healthy situation.

We had the largest "coke" mill in the world in my hometown in PA. Coke is produced by heating coal to prescribed temperatures, to produce distillates; things like benzene, napthalene, toluene; all highly carcinogenic. The end product, "coke" would then burn at extremely high temperatures, and was used to smelt steel from the iron ore. We were very familiar with POLLUTION. The huge smokestacks of the mill belched every color of smoke imagineable; orange, purple, green. They used the river water, along with chemicals, to quench the white-hot steel, which sent clouds of "quencher" into the air. If you drove through the quencher, which happened frequently, you'd best wash your car, as it would do a number on your paint. This process also heated the very large river. They finally closed the mill; the population of the town is about 1/3 of what it used to be.