WV mine disaster

[Filuwaúrdjan]

At least twenty five, and perhaps as many as twenty nine, miners have been killed in an explosion in a coal mine in southern WV. Worst mine disaster in the U.S for a quarter of a century. It appears that there have been concerns about safety there for some time; which is more than a little disturbing.

Dreadful.

[Vepres]

Damn! What morons allowed this to happen?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Very sad....even thought the death rate from mining has gone down throughout the years, its' still a dangerous job.........all my best to the families of the fallen.

[Eraserhead]

Links would be appreciated.

[John Dibble]

Damn! What morons allowed this to happen?

It's not necessarily a moron thing - mining is dangerous business and even when proper safety protocol is followed accidents can happen.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Links would be appreciated.

The front page has plenty, E.

http://www.post-gazette.com/

[Vepres]

Damn! What morons allowed this to happen?

It's not necessarily a moron thing - mining is dangerous business and even when proper safety protocol is followed accidents can happen.

From what Al said it appears that somebody ignored serious safety concerns (beyond what's normal)

[patrick1]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

[Vepres]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

Of course, it is morons at the Government for not enforcing these.

[Alcon]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

Of course, it is morons at the Government for not enforcing these.

How hard are coal mining safety laws to rigorously enforce?

[Vepres]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

Of course, it is morons at the Government for not enforcing these.

How hard are coal mining safety laws to rigorously enforce?

No idea

[Alcon]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

Of course, it is morons at the Government for not enforcing these.

How hard are coal mining safety laws to rigorously enforce?

No idea

Intuitively, I'd just think that it would be something government probably couldn't enforce very well even if they expended a great deal of bureaucratic energy and money...but I don't know how easy it is to predict these collapses, structurally.

[patrick1]

Well all of this would take people actually giving a damn about the workers' safety. Regulators give some chump change fine while the politicians happily accept millions in campaign contributions. Meanwhile the companies successfully neuter the workers by forcing out the unions.  Next Massey can pay a $50 million dollar class action lawsuit settlement for this disaster and people will stop caring again. That is until the next disaster when we can start the process over...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The free market will clearly solve this problem.

[Vepres]

More often than not mgmt. will allow safety violations as long as the price of blood is cheaper than the price of the coal.

Of course, it is morons at the Government for not enforcing these.

How hard are coal mining safety laws to rigorously enforce?

No idea

Intuitively, I'd just think that it would be something government probably couldn't enforce very well even if they expended a great deal of bureaucratic energy and money...but I don't know how easy it is to predict these collapses, structurally.

Well, if there were signs that the management wasn't keeping up with (or ignoring) this, it should be easy. But I agree that just inspecting the mine would be difficult.

[Хahar 🤔]

The direction this thread took right away is interesting...

Obviously vapid condolences are pointless on the Internet, but I can't offer anything more now than that and a generic expression of hope. These sorts of things are always horrible.

[Marokai Backbeat]

It really is sad. It's been all over the local news here. I've always dreaded hearing news about mines just across the river in WV.

[k-onmmunist]

Unfortunately, it's beyond human control to stop things like this happening sometimes. Mining is dangerous. Very sad

[Badger]

Unfortunately, it's beyond human control to stop things like this happening sometimes. Mining is dangerous. Very sad

But sometimes it can be controlled.

http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/post/brianrothenberg/CqRl

Highlights about the coal company involved and it's CEO:

•denied the existence of global warming, saying, amongst other things, if “CO2 emissions are going to kill polar bears, it’s gonna happen.”
•faced billions of dollars in EPA fines
•a case before the U.S. Supreme Court over buying a justice at a state supreme court.
•cited environmental awards that are created by the industry for the industry.
•threatened to shoot a reporter and assaults a cameraman
•had documented worker deaths, including one in which Gee narrowly missed being deposed.
•a documented history of labor strife and union-busting.
•had a major Jesuit university divest their company’s stock because they found it too unethical.
•fought in court for their ‘right’ to build a coal silo with-in three hundred feet of an elementary school.

Their charming CEO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVxYyNDnORc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Ym8qqR5vU&feature=related#t=40s

Anyone wanna take a wild guess as to his attitude towards OSHA and safety regulations? As if there's any doubt, their safety record is decidedly piss poor:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-coal-mining7-2010apr07,0,5645479.story


Government regulation and oversight is necessary for a reason, and when judge-buying, anti "Communist and Atheist" (i.e regulators) bastards like this guy get their way, people die.

Oh God. One of the dead miners had been in the mines for 30 years and was 5 weeks from retirement. I could just cry.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yeah, the company has a bad name and has done for years. The name 'Don Blankenship' might ring a few bells here, perhaps.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

The direction this thread took right away is interesting...

Obviously vapid condolences are pointless on the Internet, but I can't offer anything more now than that and a generic expression of hope. These sorts of things are always horrible.

Pretty much my response in its totality...