US union blames owner, gov't for Sago mine deaths
Source: Reuters
By Jon Hurdle PHILADELPHIA, March 15 (Reuters) - The main U.S. mining union on Thursday blamed the Sago mine's owner and regulators for the January 2006 disaster that killed 12 coal miners in a report the mine owner dismissed as "political grandstanding." The United Mine Workers of America said in a report that the tragedy was the result of a failure to follow federal mine-safety regulations before the incident, as well as poor decisions during the rescue operation. The report also cast doubt on a theory -- advanced by the West Virginia mine's owner, International Coal Group Inc. <ICO.N>, and regulators -- that the mine explosion was caused by lightning. Instead, the union said the blast was probably caused by "frictional activity" in the steel mesh of the mine's roof which led to a mixture of methane and air being ignited in a sealed-off area of the mine. It also said the rescue operation was hampered by a delay in the arrival of rescue teams, the failure to publish the first rescue plan until some seven hours after the explosion, and the absence of seismic equipment that might have allowed rescuers to hear the trapped men pounding on roof bolts. "Twelve men are dead today who should not be," said UMWA International President Cecil Roberts in a statement. "Their deaths came as a result of a series of bad decisions made by the company and the federal mine safety regulatory agency." One miner was killed in the explosion and 11 others died of carbon monoxide poisoning as they waited to be rescued. Another miner who was trapped with the group survived. It was the deadliest mining disaster in West Virginia since 1968. ICG attacked the report, which follows other reports from state officials and the company, as "political grandstanding" to advance the union's agenda. "The UMWA has rolled out this so-called report with its usual bombast; however, upon closer review the report is simply a propaganda piece designed to criticize and undermine the state and federal mine regulators and ICG, whose miners continue to work union free," said CEO Ben Hatfield. The union also criticized the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for allowing Sago's owners to seal the unused area of the mine with a type of foam blocking material that was "completely inadequate" to withstand the blast. The agency and ICG should have installed stronger "bulkhead seals" required by law under the 1977 Mine Act, the report said.
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