1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

29 dead in W.Va. mine explosion

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Trey Beamon, Apr 5, 2010.

  1. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Fuck, indeed.
     
  2. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    Ugh. RIP.

    And may the inquisition begin for Blankenship and anyone else who has a role in allowing this to happen.
    I had a feeling they wouldn't be getting anywhere near the mines. '

    Cowardly bastards.
     
  3. Brooklyn Bridge

    Brooklyn Bridge Well-Known Member

    One of the NPR talk programs has a good interview the other night with a reporter who worked inside the coal mines on safety issues. Apparently the situation is much better than it was until before 1968. That's when the feds threaten to take over the industry unless energy companies cleaned up their act. Fatality rates went from 1-100 to 1-1000 in the 1990s. (I could be a bit off on that) But it was an interesting listen nontheless.

    Not suprisingly saferty was the #1 concern for people in the mine and for managers/supervisors who were above ground. They even evacuate the mine at the slightest hint of trouble (cave-in, gas leak). Don't know if that was the case here.

    check out Harlan County, USA, a documentary about the coal strikes in Kentucky in the 1970s. Energy companies sent out thugs to bust the picket lines. A 16-year old kid was killed when he was shot in the head.
     
  4. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Hey Don, does that screw up your safety average? Fuckstick.
     
  5. linotype

    linotype Well-Known Member

    Horrible. Just horrible. Hoped the good people of my home state were due a miracle.
     
  6. linotype

    linotype Well-Known Member

    And in a time of tremendous tragedy, it's always nice when the CEO of the coal company whose mine blew up, killing 25 (at the time) and having four unaccounted-for workers, takes the time to swipe at the Fourth Estate.

    To wit: Don Blankenship's Twitter feed. He sent out a blast of 11 tweets the other day, his first tweets since the disaster, and many make up a list of things that "came to mind."

    Among Don's tweets: "Sixth, the indignity of much of the media."

    Stay classy, Don.

    http://twitter.com/donblankenship
     
  7. Colin Dunlap

    Colin Dunlap Member

    Admittedly, I don't know much about the coal mining process, even though I live in a part of the world where it happens regularly.
    But, I have a question:
    Believe me, the last thing I want to see is job loss, but for the sake of safety, I have always wondered, is there a way to mechanize the underground process of mining coal? That is to say, to somehow do it without having to send humans into what seems like a tremendously dangerous situation?
     
  8. 21

    21 Well-Known Member

    Jeff Goodell from Rolling Stone did a book on the industry, 'Big Coal.' I've seen him interviewed numerous times this week, incredible stuff.
     
  9. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    I'd like to think Don Blankenship has nuked his political pull with his handling of this - of course, everyone in the state is likely connected to him somehow.
     
  10. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member


    Yep, it's the media's fault that 29 miners died.

    I'd pay to see Blankenship and Fred Phelps get put in an arena with some lions.
     
  11. Crash

    Crash Active Member

    Colin,

    The process has been mechanized to death. Production from coal mining is the highest it's ever been. Employment is as low as it's ever been. But the largest mechanization process is called mountaintop removal, where they blow up the entire top of the mountain then extract the coal from there. It's easy and cheap, but it destroys the environment, fills in creeks and ponds that people rely on to live, and demolishes the plant and wildlife ecosystems of the area.

    As far as investigations into coal business, don't hold your breath. The government is complicit in every crime coal companies have ever committed. It won't investigate itself.
     
  12. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/us/11mining.html?pagewanted=1&hp

    The agency can seek to close mines that it deems unsafe and to close repeat offenders, but it rarely does so.

    The fines it levies are relatively small, and many go uncollected for years. It lacks subpoena power, a basic investigatory tool. Its investigators are not technically law enforcement officers, like those at other agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.


    The Mine Safety and Health Administration is about as useless as a eunuch at a gang bang.

    And this is priceless:

    But at a hearing that year, Bill K. Caylor, then president of the Kentucky Coal Association, accused the government of reacting hysterically to the accidents

    “Did you know that 750 people die each year in the U.S. from eating bad or ruined potato salad?” he told federal regulators. “Do you think we could get some new laws put on the books to control these deaths?”


    Words fail me.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page