Page 2 - Ventilation Problems News Today

Three months ago about the wrong-way air flow at the vents near the escape routes? >> thats incredibly serious. i mean, first of all, theres going to be probably charges brought against that fore manor supervisor who claimed he knew about that for three weeks. they can do that under section 1-10-c of the mine act. its responsibility. there certainly could be criminal charges filed. its a flagrant violation. its high negligence. its reckless disregard. they knew it. that air in that escapeway sho...

Imminent danger order was issued on 12/14/09. it wasnt terminated until february 2nd. we cant get details from them, im sure, right now. theyre busy doing the rescue. the press people are overwhelmed. but something was going terribly wrong with this mine. there were withdraw orders because of the ventilation problems. they had to take minors out of the mine or out of sections to fix the problems. there is no doubt that ventilation problems were plaguing this mine. >> that raises the simple quest...

>> what are the implications based on that news this afternoon about the citation three months ago about the wrong-way air flow at the vents near the escape routes? >> thats incredibly serious. i mean, first of all, theres going to be probably charges brought against that fore manor supervisor who claimed he knew about that for three weeks. they can do that under section 1-10-c of the mine act. its personal responsibility. there certainly could be criminal charges filed. its a flagrant violation...

Violations. what is going on here? >> you know, i dont know. that certainly would not have happened at a mine where the workers were represented by a union. we have local union safety committees that make sure that issues like high methane levels, coal dust accumulations, ventilation problems. if something like thats going on at a union-represented mine like it was going on at this mind, likelihood is we would have withdrawn from work. >> whats the next move? what can come out of this investigat...

Ventilation problems. >> correct. >> problems that could lead to the kind of buildup of methane gas, correct? >> correct. so talk us to about those violations, which are very serious violations and then the way a company can sort of kick the can through the appeals process. >> well, the company can appeal mshas citation, but the bottom line is they still have to correct the condition for which they were cited and they have to correct it in the amount of time that msha gives them to correct it. s...

Scrubbers. if they can get to the rescue chamber, they can survive until rescuers get to them. bill: we just heard from the ceo. you know how dangerous this business has been and can be even today. >> yes. bill: these workers know the risks down there, too. did the company, did this particular mine, have issues that would have raised red flags for some? >> well, the red flags with that emsha issued orders. we talked all day yesterday about 104d2, we know there were ventilation problems, we know ...

Ventilation problems, excessive dust and methane gas -- all of which obviously kills people. massey has aggressively fought off hefty fines, by the way, by drowning federal regulators in appeals because coal mining is so profitable, it costs about half of natural gas. you can save a lot of money for lawsuits and lobbying. a bill established to improve mandatory safety standards for coal mining has been stalled in the senate since the last session. its called the "s" miner act and the house of re...

Conference from officials, that massey has yet to reach out to some of the families. does that surprise you? >> yeah, it really surprises me, especially someone like don blank blankenship, who is the ceo of massey energy and has often been outspoken as a champion, as he says, of his employees and workers. the fact he has not contacted them is really surprising. >> there were also a lot of questions for the mining inspectors about the violations that company has already faced. theyve racked up mo...

Ventilation problems, isnt that an indication these workers were going into an unsafe workplace? >> it certainly is when you see repeat violations. i think were going to have to look at what happens in the investigations, in the weeks and months ahead, but its really important to say that massey energy has a, is well-known for its sort of aggressive mining practices, for flouting mountain top mining laws. it is well-known for its behavior in the coal fields. >> when youre doing research on coal ...

Energy and has a history of violations including 458 last year alone. it was cited for potential volatile coal dust, poor preshift inspections, ventilation problems, and escape route planning problems as well. >> the search continues this morning for khalia wilson. the 12-year-old was last seen on march 28th when they left her home to go to a friends birthday party. authorities are asking the girl to come home if she can and assuring her shes not going to be in trouble. >> kayleah, we want you t...