Miners Trapped In WV Coal Mine

[Linda7NJ]

I am very worried about Hatfield.

 

[christine2448]

I am very worried about Hatfield.

What do you mean? For his saftey, like someone might hurt him? Or he might hurt himself? Or what?

He looked so very upset this morning at 3, so tired, emotionally drained, very hurt, and the reporters seemed to be attacking him, I feel so very sorry for him.

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

What do you mean? For his saftey, like someone might hurt him? Or he might hurt himself? Or what?

He looked so very upset this morning at 3, so tired, emotionally drained, very hurt, and the reporters seemed to be attacking him, I feel so very sorry for him.

I agree. He looked very distraught and also very close to tears.

 

[harleysnana]

He looked sad just now when he was giving a new conference.
But he also admitted that he made a mistake by not telling the family.

I wonder if when they first found them they were all alive?
They said last night that the confusion happened when they were
in the process of changing search teams.
Is it possible that the team that first found them found them alive?
And by the time the other team got down to rescue them they had died?

If they were all together in the mine... wouldn't they all die around the same time?
Or is it possible that the others died hours before they got to the survivor?

I personally think they died right before they got to them to bring them out.
And they just happened to get to the one guy before he died.

 

[Becba]

If they were all together in the mine... wouldn't they all die around the same time?
Or is it possible that the others died hours before they got to the survivor?

I personally think they died right before they got to them to bring them out.
And they just happened to get to the one guy before he died.

Just a thought, they would die near the same time but not at the same time due to age, weight and health reasons.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I am very worried about Hatfield.

I fear he may harm himself.

 

[Linda7NJ]

The way they were found ( the scene) and if they made any effort to communicate with their families will be shared only with the families.


heartbreaking

 

[Buzz Mills]

Have they reported how many total employees the Tallmansville mine had??

If they invoke new safety standards, or don't allow other mines in WVA/PA to operate with existing similar safety violations, this will certainly have a continuing negative effect on WVA/PA coal miners.

That mine will be shut down for a long period; the rest of the miners there are out of work, so in the addition to the devastating loss of loved ones, family, and friends, the financial suffering extends out through the community.

I checked out the company that owns the mine---International Coal Group, just successfully closed an offering of 21 million shares at $11/share in December. The underwriters had until Jan 5th to pick up an option on over 3 million additional shares.

 

[christine2448]

Have they reported how many total employees the Tallmansville mine had??

If they invoke new safety standards, or don't allow other mines in WVA/PA to operate with existing similar safety violations, this will certainly have a continuing negative effect on WVA/PA coal miners.

That mine will be shut down for a long period; the rest of the miners there are out of work, so in the addition to the devastating loss of loved ones, family, and friends, the financial suffering extends out through the community.

I checked out the company that owns the mine---International Coal Group, just successfully closed an offering of 21 million shares at $11/share in December. The underwriters had until Jan 5th to pick up an option on over 3 million additional shares.

145 employees I heard on CNN last night

 

[nanandjim]

Just a thought, they would die near the same time but not at the same time due to age, weight and health reasons.

Something interesting that I heard and learned today is that carbon monoxide is heavier than air (oxygen). So, it would settle closer to the ground. If some of the miners decided to sit down while others stood up or were higher off the ground, those higher off of the ground may have survived longer. Plus, as you said, age, weight and physical condition would certainly be other factors.

 

[IdahoMom]

He looked so very upset this morning at 3, so tired, emotionally drained, very hurt, and the reporters seemed to be attacking him, I feel so very sorry for him.

The questions I saw when I was watching in the wee hours of the morning were over the top, and in bad taste, imo.

Those damn reporters have some culpability, imo. They helped splash the survivor story all over the place! :slap:

 

[christine2448]

The questions I saw when I was watching in the wee hours of the morning were over the top, and in bad taste, imo.

Those damn reporters have some culpability, imo. They helped splash the survivor story all over the place! :slap:

Yep, I still can't believe that when I got to dad in laws (mentioned this in earlier post) when I handed him his newpaper I picked up from his driveway...here is the front page of our morning paper The Atlanta Journal

 

[Buzz Mills]

Something interesting that I heard and learned today is that carbon monoxide is heavier than air (oxygen). So, it would settle closer to the ground. If some of the miners decided to sit down while others stood up or were higher off the ground, those higher off of the ground may have survived longer. Plus, as you said, age, weight and physical condition would certainly be other factors.

Trapped miners will always go to the highest spot they can reach, because of the carbon monoxide.

This is supposed to be a true mining story: there were a bunch of miners trapped, and one of them kept track of how much time/air they had left, as rescue attempts were in progress, reporting this to the other miners on a continual basis. He lied to them, to buoy their spirits, about the amount of time/air left, so they wouldn't get discouraged, or panic. When rescued, allegedly after they should have all died, for lack of breathable air, they were all found alive, with the exception of the one guy who kept track of the time, and the remaining air; he died.

 

[nanandjim]

Trapped miners will always go to the highest spot they can reach, because of the carbon monoxide.

This is supposed to be a true mining story: there were a bunch of miners trapped, and one of them kept track of how much time/air they had left, as rescue attempts were in progress, reporting this to the other miners on a continual basis. He lied to them, to buoy their spirits, about the amount of time/air left, so they wouldn't get discouraged, or panic. When rescued, allegedly after they should have all died, for lack of breathable air, they were all found alive, with the exception of the one guy who kept track of the time, and the remaining air; he died.

Very interesting. The information that I reported was told on Fox News by a former miner whose cousin died with the 12.

I also wanted to comment that I heard that it was the family members who actually told the reporters that they had received word that the 12 were found alive. It is unfortunate, but I think that it is being blown way out of proportion.

I can imagine that a hopeful family member hearing that the 'miners had been located' translated that to mean that they were found alive.

 

[cappuccina]

...I worked for a paper company where unsafe conditions caused a boiler explosion. resulting in death...At this same facility, there was a wildcat strike resulting in injuries and the police being called in. I also worked in public sector labor relations where I've had to give people all kinds of bad news, testify in court, talk to the press, check sources for accuracy, and so on...I've never been a CEO, but being a labor relations officer was crazy enough, I can tell you.

There is a right and a wrong way to do things...This man did not tell these people the truth for 3 hours...He was not close at hand and accessible the way Giuliani was during the 911 crisis. It was not handled well....fact. All he had to do was cross the street [Pardon my previous error - I thought the church was down the street and not across the road.] and tell these people straight up, something to the effect of: "I am so sorry, but it is very important that I tell you this now; the carbon monoxide readings the search and rescue team are getting are so high, that it is highly UNLIKELY that there will be any survivors. Anyone surviving these conditions would be nothing short of miraculous. Now while we hoped and prayed for a different conclusion to this terible tragedy, it does not look as if there will be any survivors...etc.".

Poco, I was speaking in the past tense....meaning he did not do the right thing at the time...there's not a damned thing he can do now, other than to apologize, and frankly, he will sound disingenuous, and no one is going to respect him, no matter what. CNN and several reputable wire sources said he did, in fact, NOT apologize when he presented the final factual scenario...

IdahoMom, I do agree with you about the reporters, expecially Geraldo, who they need to permanently lock up in Al Capone's safe...

 

[nanandjim]

...I worked for a paper company where unsafe conditions caused a boiler explosion. resulting in death...

The former miner whose cousin died in this mine said that the government has very strict regulations; and he felt that if the mine were that unsafe, it would have been shut down.

 

[JDB]

Very interesting. The information that I reported was told on Fox News by a former miner whose cousin died with the 12.

I also wanted to comment that I heard that it was the family members who actually told the reporters that they had received word that the 12 were found alive. It is unfortunate, but I think that it is being blown way out of proportion.

I can imagine that a hopeful family hearing that the 'miners had been located' translated that to mean that they were found alive.

CAn someone help me here. I have heard that the person called the families to tell them they found them. but I was just told they never called and ran from the mine to the chruch to tell them. And what I was told what actually was said by the rescue workers was we have locted them and 1 i alive.And from what a buddy told me the one who first relayed the info no one knows where they are now.
Call me confused

 

[cappuccina]

....the regulations themselves may look stringent....However, it depends on how the inspectors choose to enforce them. Different inspectors will, of course, not only look at things differently, but, more importantly, even two inspectors looking at theings the same way and finding the same violations may give the company different timetables to turn things around...

For example, and you know you see this all the time, there are some really bad nursing homes out there, and often it's not so much that the violations haven't been found, but that the QC inspectors have been waaayyy too generous with the facility vis a vis how long they have to clean up their act. Now while some violations must be corrected in so many days, weeks, etc., there are more open timetables for other deficiencies. Same way with the mines. Frankly, from everything I've read, this mine had a terrible track record. Now BadRX was gracious enough to inform me that these owners were relatively new. However, it seems as if this mine was an accident waiting to happen.

Also, as the coal beds in WVA and KY get overmined, there is more of a chance of accidents like this happening as they have to go deeper and deeper to find the coal or whatever it is they are mining.

So, you see that my answer is "yes and NO"....yes, the government has tried to imrorve conditions/make more stringent regulations, but the reality of the situation is that there are still some very dangerous working conditions out there...

 

[IdahoMom]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-010406miners_lat,0,768399.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews

SNIP

Also attending the news conference, originally scheduled for the morning, was Gene Kitts, a vice president at ICG, who suggested that the misunderstanding might have been caused by garbled speech from rescuers in the mine who were wearing full-face oxygen masks when they used their radios to report their findings.

The reports were broadcast on speakers heard throughout the command center by what Hatfield described as a "group of people who had worked 30 to 40 hours," and were desperate for good news.

The company had ordered no information be given to the families until it had been confirmed, but when the hopeful reports came in, they spread.

"I don't think anyone had a clue how much damage" could be done, Hatfield said. "The rule didn't hold."

"We are incredibly saddened by the turn of events," he said. "We understand the grief, despair and pain."

 

[cappuccina]

....to make the very difficult decision to grab the nearest most reliable news source....I would have chosen CNN, and to break the silence immediately, announcing something like I stated a couple of posts above...

This is a CEO's job....his responsibility....he should have ran to the church and told the people the truth....should have grabbed a CNN reporter by the throat and done an emergency news conference...

These are the kids of responsibilites you accept when you are a CEO/exec....you cannot push things off on someone else...

Ummmm...I think it's called taking corporate and personal responsibility...

Mr. Hatfield ****ed up...