Accident News No.1036 3 to 9 December 2010

Friday 3 December 2010 In this issue: USA: Oklahoma Mine USA: Oklahoma Coal Mine Operator in LeFlore Operator in LeFlore County County Agrees to Pay Fines ...... 1 Agrees to Pay Fines USA: Under Fire since Explosion, Mining CEO Extract from NewsOn6.com Quits...... 2 FORT SMITH, Arkansas -- The U.S. Department All 7 Miners Trapped in C. Mine of Labor's and Health Dead ...... 3 Administration says it has reached a settlement NZ: Ex-Pike miner says safety issues were agreement with an Arkansas known ...... 4 company in the 2007 death of an employee at its USA: Coal Truck Overturns at Massey Site; Rock Island Mine in LeFlore County, Oklahoma. Driver Killed...... 5 Farrell-Cooper Inc. has agreed to pay penalties Quote of the week ...... 6 totaling $375,204 for seven citations issued in the wake of the fatality, including three flagrant NZ: How do we make sure miners are heard?... 6 violations. NZ: Flames no longer roaring from mine shaft . 7 On November 16, 2007, Jack Ward, a 66-year- USA: Dead Miners' Kin Wrestle With Choice to old truck driver, was fatally injured when the Settle or Sue...... 8 truck he was operating backed over the edge of NZ: bid presented 'unprecedented a spoil dump, where waste materials from the challenge' ...... 12 surface coal mine were deposited.

NSW: Snapshot of Hunter mining highlights The truck rolled 177 feet down the dump slope safety and massive royalty payments...... 12 and came to rest upside down in a pool of water QLD: Service to farewell NZ mine blast victim 13 at the bottom of the pit.

Thirteen dead in China mine explosion ...... 13 The cause of death was drowning. Just two weeks earlier, a similar accident occurred at the QLD: Lights not practical, court told...... 13 same mine when a truck nearly slid off the DR Congo mine collapse kills 20...... 14 roadway, injuring the driver.

4 Killed in Coal Mine Tunnel Collapse in NE "New miners need to be properly trained to China...... 14 anticipate and avoid potentially deadly hazards in the workplace," said Joseph A. Main, USA: Judge upholds W.Va. mine accident reporting rule...... 14 assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Furthermore, the mining environment This week in mining accident history ...... 15 needs to be properly inspected to detect unsafe Mine-Safety Measure Giving U.S. Regulator conditions that can easily endanger miners, and More Powers Fails to Pass House...... 18 proper safety measures must be in place to prevent accidents. Due to the mine operator's Mining dictionary ...... 18 failure to provide these protections, a miner tragically died."

NOTE: Views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of Industry & Investment NSW. Editor: Mark Freeman e [email protected] Page 1 Mining Accident News No.1036

In a news release, MSHA issued three flagrant improve relations with federal regulators but violations to Farrell-Cooper, the first because it might also hasten a takeover. failed to provide Ward with new miner training. Mr. Blankenship, 60, and Massey, one of the According to an MSHA "Certificate of Training" country’s largest coal producers, have been form filled out by the company, Ward received under fire since an explosion in April at a mine in eight hours of new miner training on Nov. 2, in which 29 workers were killed. 2007. However, the investigation revealed that The explosion, at the Upper Big Branch mine, he was at the mine site for only two hours that was the nation’s worst coal mining accident in day, after which he left the mine for his pre- 40 years. employment physical. Four days later, Ward Since then, the company has been hit by civil began driving the haul truck. He was killed in the and criminal investigations and damage suits, accident 10 days later. and regulators have stepped up investigations of The release says a second flagrant violation was several more company mines for possible safety issued for failing to conduct shift examinations infractions. and identify hazardous conditions at the mine “After almost three decades at Massey, it is time site. MSHA's inspection revealed that 675 feet of for me to move on,” Mr. Blankenship said in a elevated roadways and dump sites at the mine statement. His resignation will be effective Dec. had deficient berms, which directly contributed 31. to the fatal accident, as well as the lost-time injury accident two weeks earlier. He will be succeeded by Baxter F. Phillips Jr., president of Massey, as chief executive and by MSHA issued a third flagrant violation for not retired Adm. Bobby Inman, a former senior providing berms, bumper blocks, safety hooks or Central Intelligence Agency official and the lead similar means to prevent overtravel and independent director on the Massey board, as overturning at the pit spoil dump. Dump sites at nonexecutive chairman. the mine were missing 185 feet of berm, including the location where the fatal accident Reports of possible takeover bids have been occurred. swirling for more than a month. The leading contender has been Alpha Natural Resources, On September 15, 2010, in U.S. District Court which has already made a bid. ArcelorMittal, the for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, mine world’s largest steel company, and Arch Coal superintendent Greg Bryce pled guilty to have also expressed interest. knowingly allowing miners to work without first receiving the required number of hours of Several Indian coal companies are thought to be introductory training in November 2007. interested in buying assets from Massey. Such a deal would enable Massey to meet rising The mine operator accepted all seven citations liabilities that have resulted from the accident as written, except for one minor change, and and still remain independent. agreed to pay 80 percent of the penalties as originally assessed. It was not immediately clear what effect Mr. Blankenship’s surprise resignation would have USA: Under Fire since on the future of the company. Investment Explosion, Mining CEO Quits bankers with an interest in coal companies have Extract from , USA said that Mr. Blankenship personally has opposed a takeover. Don L. Blankenship, the embattled chief executive of Massey Energy, resigned Friday in However, his resignation may help soothe the a move that might enable the company to harsh relations between Massey and regulators,

Page 2 Mining Accident News No.1036 which have been stoked by his public and have the largest reserves of any American frequent claims that the company’s safety mining companies. measures were more than adequate. The United States is the only major producer He argued that the Upper Big Branch accident with the rail and port infrastructure to ramp up was probably caused by leakage of natural gas exports quickly in the next several years. For from a crack in the mine rather than from unsafe ArcelorMittal, Massey’s coal assets would mining practices like excess and provide ready access to coal at any market price impaired monitoring devices. and protection from natural disasters like in other coal-producing countries. “The resignation could make the relationship on the federal side improve because it may be Mr. Blankenship is known as an outspoken perceived as an attempt to clean house at the skeptic of global warming theories, which he has top,” said Chris Ruppel, managing director and characterized as a hoax that endangers the group head of renewables at Execution Noble, American economy. He came into prominence an international investment firm. But Mr. Ruppel during a bitter mining strike in the 1980s, when added, “I think it will help a takeover. When you as a manager he fiercely resisted making have a transition, it makes a company more concessions to unions. The unions ended up vulnerable. You don’t have a steady hand. The making concessions, and Massey eventually whole court is now changed.” became nearly union-free. Over the years, he has used his wealth and company power to Massey directors have said they are open to a become a force in West Virginia politics, chiefly buyout. to reduce environmental and safety regulations. A company news release gave no hint that Mr. A version of this article appeared in print on Blankenship, who was chairman as well as chief December 4, 2010, on page B7 of the New York executive, was forced to resign. Mr. Phillips edition. thanked Mr. Blankenship for his service and said in the statement, “This is a strong and All 7 Miners Trapped in C. China successful coal company, and I will work hard to Mine Flood Dead match and surpass its success in the future.” Mr. Extract from CRIENGLISH.COM Phillips has been president since November 2008. All the seven miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in central China's Hunan Province Tuesday Massey has the largest reserves of metallurgical were found dead early Friday, rescuers said. coal, also known as coking coal, of any American mining company. It stands to grow Rescuers retrieved all their bodies at 6 a.m. at a with the large increase in exports to countries depth of 90 meters in the flooded pit of Yide like and Brazil that rely heavily on coal for Coal Mine in Xiangtan County, a spokesman steel production. Since the Upper Big Branch with the emergency rescuer headquarters said. accident, however, the company has spent $150 The bodies were found at the end of the shaft, million in related expenses. And last quarter it indicating they were swept there by the gushing reported a loss of more than $41 million, in large flood shortly after the accident happened at part because of a slowdown in production mostly 11:38 p.m. Tuesday, he said. caused by tightened regulatory oversight. After the accident, a deputy mine manager led A merger with Alpha Natural Resources would 27 workers safely out of the mine. create a global coal behemoth. The two already Despite all-out rescue efforts over the past two are the largest metallurgical coal producers and days, the spokesman said little progress was

Page 3 Mining Accident News No.1036 made due to serious cave-ins and lack of "Did management even know about it? Were . they even told? I don't know - it just goes to show the partnership between management and Yide is a small mine that has doubled its annual workers didn't work." output to 60,000 tonnes after recently merging with a neighboring mine. The local safety Forrester says safety procedures weren't what authority said the mine managers had been they should be - and pointed to the confusion on warned of potential safety loopholes, both orally the day of the explosion about how many miners and in writing, over the past four weeks. were actually in the mine.

Senior executives and major shareholders of the First reports were from management and people mine are in police custody. were told there were 36 miners' tags on the wall at the entrance of the shaft. Later management The cause of the accident is still under said, 27, then 29. investigation. "I believe some guys had forgotten to take their Sunday 5 December 2010 tags off the board. Things like that did happen and happened quite regularly," Forrester said. NZ: Ex-Pike miner says safety issues were known "I don't believe there were accurate measures put in place to know exactly who was down Extract from TVNZ.co.nz there." A former Pike River miner has spoken out about what he says were known safety issues at the Forrester says he is very angry - at management mine. and at the fact he has lost a friend of many years. Brent Forrester, a friend of miner Riki Keane who died in the explosion, worked in the mine "It should not have happened - it was 100% from August 2008 until July 2009. preventable."

He told Sunday there were signs of bad Forrester said when he worked in the mine, ventilation when he was there. management sounded like they knew what they were doing and "had procedures for everything".

He said he became worried about safety when he found that if staff had problems and reported it, not much changed.

"It didn't seem like anything every really got done about it."

He claims there weren't sensors in the area he was mining.

"If we had a gas problem, in the range, the control probably wouldn't even read that Brent Forrester, friends with Riki Keane who died in the Pike [until] probably 15 or 20 minutes later." River mine - Source: Sunday "There's evidence of it, through different texts He also said the sensors weren't always that miners have made, through comments calibrated. they've made leading up to the explosion. He said Keane's concerns were the same as his There's been gas issues, there's been own but many of the miners were worried about ventilation issues," Forrester said. losing their jobs.

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"We had a time when they were using one "We increased the air up to 80 to 90 cubic vehicle to get contractors in and out all day and metres per second, which gave more than we had no vehicles underground there to get out enough ventilation for those areas. And then in if we needed. recent months we've installed the first of our two main underground fans, and that increased it by "One of the guys rang... I was in the control another 30 percent on top of that," Whittall said. room and he said 'we've got no stretchers, no safety equipment, no vehicle to get in and out - Whittall said he had not heard of the methane this is just ridiculous. I said 'right I'm ringing the sensors not being calibrated. union'." "We have requirements for those things to be "The union representative said he believed we recalibrated and we have a requirement for them should come out, but it was the miners' call." to be kept in calibration to do the job they're Forrester said he rang them and they walked doing. If there's an allegation that they weren't in out. calibration it's something we'll have to look into and no doubt will," Whittall said. He said Riki Keane and Daniel Herk, another of the dead miners, were two of those who walked He also said the issue of the miners' tags was out. something they had tried to enforce with the miners time and time again. He said there was a He said management weren't happy about the firm message sent and signs placed in the mine move and told the miners if they had issues, reminding them of their responsibility to remove management was approachable. their tags when they left the mine. "I don't believe they were ever approachable "The reinforcing message to guys is always 'can when it came to issues and they wanted to know you imagine if there was an emergency and your who rang the union, so I felt threatened... there family thought you were in the mine, but you was a risk of losing my job." weren't really'." Whittall responds to ex-miner's claims He said he stands by his statement that the Sunday put Forrester's claim that the accident mine was developed with safety as its foremost was preventable to Pike River CEO Peter concern. Whittall . Meanwhile Forrester said if he is asked to testify "Well I accept that mines shouldn't blow up, and to the Royal Commission of Inquiry, he will. I accept that mines should have every system in "It's about trying to find out the truth... and what's place to make sure that they can detect the happened to these 29 guys that have been left safety conditions underground," Whittall said. in the mine." He said the accident may have been preventable on the day, but until the USA: Coal Truck Overturns at investigation is complete they won't know. Massey Site; Driver Killed "We may know what factors led to that Extract from ABC News, USA eventually, and therefore be able to prevent that Federal mine regulators say a coal-hauling truck same occurrence again somewhere, or at that overturned at a Massey Energy Co. mine site in mine." West Virginia, killing the driver. He said as Forrester hasn't worked at the mine Amy Louviere, a spokeswoman for the Mine for more than a year, he hadn't seen the Safety and Health Administration, says the truck improvements in it such as the ventilation shaft overturned around 5:30 p.m. Saturday on a haul and auxiliary fans.

Page 5 Mining Accident News No.1036 road in Scarbro, which is about 50 miles The mine's most experienced union delegate southeast of Charleston. was killed. Those remaining have the daunting task of stepping into his shoes at this time when Louviere said in an e-mail Sunday that two workers need their union support. inspectors were sent to investigate the wreck, which may have been caused by faulty brakes This was a workplace accident. Unions have and icy roads. long been the voice of workplace health and safety. We have a motto: Mourn the dead and The truck was operated by a contractor, Medford fight for the living. There is and will continue to Trucking. Massey said in a news release be mourning over the deaths of these men. At Sunday that the crash happened at the the same time we need to make sure their voice company's Republic Energy operation. Massey is heard in the strongest terms in all the various says it will investigate the crash and work to inquiries. ensure its haul roads are safe. The inquiry must include an expert on workplace Quote of the week health and safety in the broadest sense.

The judge is experienced and will have heard evidence on many different issues in his time on the bench. He will be able to distil information and draw conclusions. A mine safety expert will be good on the technology and risks of mining and can probe the structure and practice of mining, safety equipment and so on.

But who will be the voice of those killed? Who

Carlos Castaneda 1962 will ask the witnesses about the adequacy of “A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by health and safety training, the processes for thinking about acting.” raising safety issues, and support systems for Carlos Castaneda workers that contacted the union about them? (Peruvian-born American anthropologist and Who will question witnesses about the culture of author, 1925-1998) the place, about how Department of Labour Monday 6 December 2010 inspectors interacted with health and safety delegates when visiting? Who will ask the DOL NZ: How do we make sure why the recommendations from the last fatal miners are heard? mine accident inquiry in 2008 were not Extract from stuff.co.nz implemented? When determining the inquiry report and recommendations, who will ensure OPINION story: The Pike River mine explosion that workplace safety policies are considered? is a dreadful disaster in all respects: 29 mine workers dead, bodies not yet recovered, families There are risks that integrity is already being and friends bereft, the mine's future and that of compromised. The EPMU has been working its hundreds of other workers very uncertain. with members to support them through their grief and over employment issues in the immediate The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing aftermath, and these tasks will multiply in the Union had 71 members at the mine. Eleven coming months. Many members will want died, the rest lost close workmates and live with representation and advice during interviews with the knowledge that it might have been them. police, DOL officials and the inquiry, and the

Page 6 Mining Accident News No.1036 union is equipping itself in the most impressive influence its collection during interviews. Many way to do that. contractors without the protection of employee status are losing employment and income It has done the right thing in holding its tongue immediately although some may well have about any of the wider issues so far, but while it entitlements. has been silent serious political decisions are being made. Who will support them, and what are the policy implications for this form of employment? The DOL and police have started interviewing workers, eight a day, four at a time, up to four The CTU and unions are in a difficult position. hours allocated for each one. The commission is While we are excluded from all the big being set up and appointments being made. The decisions, any criticisms we make will no doubt memorial service was planned and the union, be called by the Government as making political unlike the company, was excluded from capital. But there are core worker interests at consideration. Some statements were made at stake here: the future of mining, the right of that service concluding already that this was just workers to return home after a day's work, the some sort of unfortunate accident. need for accountability for this disaster, the safety standards of other mines. There are issues which the Council of Trade Unions is already raising which need to be While the company has been very supportive of answered. The DOL and police have agreed to the victims' families since the explosion and Pike co-operate in their interviews to minimise River Coal chief Peter Whittall has obviously repeated questioning of people, but each is been very traumatised, in the end both the collecting evidence for different purposes: The ongoing media interest and, more importantly, police for the coroner as to cause, the DOL for the conduct of inquiries and investigations must the Government as to future policy and now consider the reality that there are different breaches of the Health and Safety Act. interests at stake.

There is a risk that the DOL is effectively This has been a terrible tragedy. investigating itself. This mine was operating for a Let's not compound it by a shoddy approach to little over a year; how could this happen in such inquiries. Let the miners speak. a short time, what was the DOL's involvement when it was opened, and what will be its role if it Helen Kelly is Council of Trade Unions is to reopen? president.

The company and many of those that work for it Tuesday 7 December 2010 want to reopen the mine; how will that happen in a way that is safe, how will we avoid the NZ: Flames no longer roaring pressures between those that want the profits from mine shaft and those that simply want the decency of a job Extract from tvnz.co.nz without compromising safety standards? Flames that were coming from the Pike River The mine company is pressuring the DOL and mine vent are no longer visible and police to let their lawyers sit in on interviews with temperatures on the concrete pad around the witnesses. The union says no, that workers must vent are reducing. feel free to say what they want and answer fully Gas level readings from the mine are also without feeling that they may hinder their future showing positive signs, with some areas work prospects. showing inert readings. The company can dispute the evidence in the normal way when it is presented but it shouldn't

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with rescuers continuing their search for survivors, the company's board convened by phone.

They agreed that it was unlikely any of the 29 workers had survived. Then they decided to make a settlement offer of $3 million to each deceased miner's family to help them financially and head off a wave of litigation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Indeed, the first letters from law firms would soon begin to arrive in mail boxes along the Aerial view of drilling rig at Pike River Coal Mine - Source: NZPA twisting roads here, offering to represent Superintendent Gary Knowles says this relatives of miners in wrongful-death lawsuits morning's developments were encouraging. against Massey.

"This is an important step in allowing us to get a metal cap on the vent shaft. Work is also continuing to cool even further the concrete pad around the vent.

"However the fact that flames have stopped coming from the vent doesn't mean the fire inside the mine is out yet.

"We will keep running the GAG machine. If we can get the cap on this will help the GAG in Kim Lane, whose husband Rick Lane was killed at the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, stood in a memorial garden in putting out the fire inside the mine." Cool Ridge, W.Va. Ms. Lane had the garden built to honor her husband and the 28 other miners were killed. Knowles stressed that even with the fire out, Tommy Davis—whose son Cory, 20, brother entry to the mine was still a long way off. Timmy, 51, and nephew Josh Napper, 25, were "Safety remains paramount and we can't just put all killed in the explosion—got more than a the fire out and rush in there. dozen letters from attorneys. He threw them in the garbage. At the same time, Mr. Davis, who "Even with all the expertise and resources worked in the mine himself and narrowly available to us this is still an operation which will escaped the blast, hasn't taken up Massey on its take weeks, if not months." $3 million offer, presented by Massey operating Knowles will meet with the chief coroner in chief Chris Adkins in Mr. Davis's home. Greymouth later today to give him a briefing on the operation.

The Chief Coroner will also be taken to the mine site and is due to meet the families tomorrow. USA: Dead Miners' Kin Wrestle With Choice to Settle or Sue Extract from The Wall Street Journal

DAWES, W.Va.—Two days after an explosion ripped through a Massey Energy Co. coal mine, Tommy Davis watched television with his son Nathan, 11, at his home in Dawes, W.Va.

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"I'm in no hurry," says Mr. Davis, as he sat in his the person had a generous life-insurance policy. wood-paneled living room recently, watching a In the current case, he says he would also look digital picture frame display photos of his son. "I at other variables—such as how long miners don't think it's justifiable that they want to put a typically work over their lifetime. dollar sign on my boy." "It's a cold calculus," Mr. Feinberg says. The Nine months after the worst U.S. coal-mining situation is further complicated because families disaster in 40 years, most of the 29 families who may also believe they are owed punitive lost a father, son or brother at Massey's Upper damages. Big Branch mine, in Montcoal, W.Va., are torn The Massey offer exceeds the average wrongful over whether to accept Massey's $3 million death settlement in the U.S., which was $1.8 settlement offer or to file suit. million in 2009, but is less than the average The decision has split some families. Seven wrongful death jury verdict of $7.8 million, widows or close relatives have accepted according to ALM, a New York legal information settlement offers, but only three agreements company. have been finalized. In at least two cases, family members are at odds and plan to let a court decide which path they should take. Two families have filed wrongful death suits against the company.

Most, if not all, of the other families have retained lawyers and are awaiting the outcomes of federal and state investigations into the accident to see if the company is found responsible.

The difficult and life-altering choice—settle or "We tried to pick a number that we thought sue—is similar to the one faced by relatives of should work for everybody," said longtime workers killed in other industrial accidents, Massey CEO Don Blankenship in a recent including the BP PLC oil spill that killed 11 interview. On Friday, he stepped down as workers this year, the California gas-pipeline chairman and CEO, under pressure from some explosion that killed four and a Connecticut members of Massey's board, which is exploring power plant explosion that killed six. Kenneth a sale or merger. Feinberg, a Washington attorney who has been appointed to oversee claims in BP's $20 billion For all families, whether they accept the oil spill fund and who oversaw the September 11 settlement or not, Massey is supplementing victims fund, says Massey's settlement offer is workers' compensation benefits, so widows "standard operating procedure where the receive miners' full salaries for the rest of their company wants to stay out of court and avoid lives or until they remarry. It also provides the limelight and offers what it feels are very medical benefits to widows for 20 years and generous settlements." continued medical benefits for dependent children with no premiums. The company will Mr. Feinberg, who has become a go-to figure in also pay $5,000 a year for child care, and such heart-wrenching matters, says settlement provide dependents with four-year scholarships offers worked out in court generally adhere to to an accredited public college or vocational several factors: the age, income and number of school in West Virginia. dependents of the person killed, and whether

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The benefits "were far beyond what we were siblings and mother want the option to sue required to do," said Mr. Blankenship. Massey.

Legal experts say the $3 million offer is high for Mr. Mullins says his brother Rex told him that if workers who earned at most about $80,000 a he was ever killed in the mine to sue. "If that's year, and they say the sum might be considered his last wish, then I feel that we should follow even richer in the context of rural West Virginia, through," says Mr. Mullins, a retired miner from where the poverty rate exceeds 19% and the Pax, W.Va. unemployment rate is 9.3%. Brenda Mullins didn't return calls for comment. A "Some families will say that just gives me peace man answering her door said she didn't want to of mind and it's more money than I thought I discuss the matter. would ever have," says Robert Bastress, a law Two families will make arguments for and professor at West Virginia University in against settlement in the next two weeks before Morgantown, W.Va. "Some families will say I a judge in closed hearings. Under state law, a want a piece of Massey, and I want my day in judge needs to approve wrongful death court." settlements and can determine how to distribute Mr. Bastress says families could receive more if funds among dependents. a jury finds that Massey intentionally or John Wooten, a Beckley, W.Va., attorney, recklessly violated safety laws that caused the represents Clay Mullins, as well as two miners' deaths. Litigation involving miners' deaths, he widows who haven't accepted the settlement. says, usually takes three to four years to "Three million is a lot of money, but if it turns out resolve. That could motivate some families to [a future settlement] is worth 10 times that, then settle. But they stand to receive less if the $3 million is not a lot of money," he says. company is cleared of wrongdoing and decides to lower its offer. Massey says it currently has no In the small coal communities of southern West plans to do so. Virginia, the paths of these families often cross. At a small memorial service recently in Under state law, any family members who were Whitesville, five miles north of the Upper Big financially or emotionally dependent on the dead Branch mine, several dozen family members are allowed to seek the company's settlement. gathered at dusk on a strip of grass between Divisions among individual families matter, Route 3 and the bank of the Big Coal River. because they have the potential to scuttle Among them was Nancy Burgess, of Artie, Massey's attempt to settle the cases. Even if a W.Va., whose 31-year-old son, Ronald Maynor, widow—or next closest relative—accepts was killed in the blast. "I know no money can't Massey's offer, other dependents and family bring them back, but I tell the families to take members can object to the settlement at a court them for every dime they can get out of them," hearing. In West Virginia, a judge must weigh says Ms. Burgess. Her daughter-in-law rejected their arguments and decide whether a the settlement and has filed a wrongful death settlement can go forward. The outcome brings suit against Massey in Raleigh County Circuit with it a certain finality: any settlement would bar Court. all of the miner's dependents from suing Massey over the accident in the future. Standing nearby was Kim Lane, whose husband, Rick, a foreman at Upper Big Branch The Mullins family is split, according to Clay mine, was killed. Ms. Lane, 46, accepted Mullins, whose brother Rex was killed in the Massey's $3 million offer and doesn't blame the explosion. He said his sister-in-law, Brenda company for the accident. "Massey's been good Mullins, wants to accept the offer. But Rex's to me, and I have nothing bad to say," she says.

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Ms. Lane created a memorial garden on her Diane Davis says she doesn't want to talk about property as a tribute to all 29 of the miners who the settlement or the accident. "I'm done talking were killed. about it," she says.

"Money is not the issue," Ms. Lane says. In order for her to receive the settlement, all of "Healing my broken heart, the love that I have the Davis family members, including siblings, for my husband, is the only thing that matters to parents and children, had to waive their rights to me right now." sue.

Few families could illustrate the difficult choices "I wouldn't want to take something that belonged presented by Massey's offer better than the to Diane," says Mrs. Davis. Davis family, which lost three members. They Two other members in the Davis family, Tommy have agonized over the decision and determined and his sister, Pam Napper, forfeited their rights that what is best for one family member might to sue over their brother's death. They are still not be necessarily right for another. undecided about accepting Massey's settlement Charles and Linda Davis, the patriarch and offer for their respective sons, Cory and Josh. matriarch of the close-knit family, lost a son, Ms. Napper says no amount of money can bring Timmy, and two grandsons, Cory and Josh. On back Josh, who worked in the mine for less than the morning of the accident, their grandsons two months. He had been a licensed practical were in their kitchen. Ms. Davis was packing nurse in Ohio, earning $18 an hour, but wanted their lunches. to work in the mines to make more money to "I said, 'Boys, you need to think about getting help support his two-year-old daughter. into school. Go do something with your life," she Ms. Napper says she was disturbed to learn that recalled. "You know what their reply was? 'Big the Massey mine had been cited for repeated money, Mamaw. Big money.' That's what got safety violations. She is concerned that by them"—the lure of the high wages on offer in the accepting the settlement, she won't be able to mines. push for changes. Charles Davis worked in the mines for 37 years Regulators say the Massey mine had a pattern before retiring. He says he never saw an of serious and frequent safety violations over the explosion of this magnitude and believes it must past two years—some that required have been caused by safety lapses. He believes evacuations. the company was responsible for keeping the mine safe or shutting it down if there were signs Massey has said it believes the mine's safety of problems. devices and practices met government standards at the time of the blast. But when his daughter-in-law called for advice about the settlement, he was torn between his Meanwhile, Tommy Davis says he is struggling own anger and concerns for her. He told her to with the decision. He, himself, worked at the take it. Upper Big Branch mine for a contractor, knew coal mining paid well and encouraged his son "I don't figure you'll get any better than that," Mr. Cory to develop his mining skills. Davis recalls telling Timmy's widow, Diane. "If you go and fight, you'd have to go hire a lawyer Like other relatives of the miners, Mr. Davis and they'd take almost half." holds onto his last memory of his son. They were both at the mine. Cory was putting his He doesn't want her to go through the pain of a lunch away. Mr. Davis took a couple of steps lawsuit, having to relive the accident. toward the mine and stopped. "I looked at Cory Boy, and I said, 'I love you, boy.' He said, 'I love

Page 11 Mining Accident News No.1036 you too, old man. I'm going to go in and cut me Ms Allyson said in spite of the anger and some coal.'" frustration of miners' families portrayed in the media, the relationship between the police and NZ: Mine rescue bid presented the community was strong. 'unprecedented challenge' The police station was inundated with flowers, Extract from Otago Daily Times cards and food and had telephone calls from Attempting to rescue the 29 miners and around the world. contractors from the Pike River mine after last month's explosion last month created an Wednesday 8 December 2010 unprecedented challenge, say police. NSW: Snapshot of Hunter They have been criticised for not going into the mining highlights safety and West Coast mine after the initial explosion on massive royalty payments November 19 but said it was too dangerous. Extract from ABC News Online, Aus "Walking 2.5km along the tunnel to where the A New South Minerals Council report miners were working would be like walking into a talks up safety and the extreme wealth bomb," Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls generated by the resources sector in areas like said in the latest issue of the police magazine, the Hunter Valley. Ten One. The Key Industry Statistics 2010 report says in "Towards the end of the tunnel the atmosphere the 12 months to June $130 million was spent was so volatile that any movement could on exploration, with 110 million tonnes of coal displace the air and cause an explosion." exported. Mr Nicholls said throughout the operation police No deaths were recorded and nearly one-billion and rescue teams were looking for an dollars was collected in royalty payments. opportunity when gas levels were "trending towards stable and key indicators allowed the possibility of a rescue. But that was not to be".

Greymouth police said the loss of 29 men was gut wrenching, particularly for youth aid officer Constable Rosemary Green whose husband Bernard died in a mining accident at Roa mine near Greymouth in 2006.

She had a son working in another West Cost mine. Snapshot of Hunter mining industry (User submitted via Contribute: Araluen, file photo) "It's been bloody hard and bloody gut wrenching," the officer in charge of Greymouth Minerals Council CEO, Nikki Williams says the police. Senior Sergeant Allyson Ealam told the report confirms the Hunter is key driver of the magazine. state's economy.

"We're not sure how to feel. It's surreal." "We're continuing to create new jobs," she said.

For the fist six days of the operation focusing on "Some 2,100 new jobs were created and in fact the rescue of the trapped men, officers regularly for the Hunter region, since the snapshot was worked 15-hour days. taken of our statistics for last year there has been an additional 2,500 jobs in the Hunter, so that trend continues very importantly."

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Dr Williams says injuries were also down and Mr Joynson had been expected to return to there were no fatalities. Australia in January. "The story is quite fantastic, I mean zero Thirteen dead in China mine fatalities," she said. explosion "We've had long stretches of many years without BEIJING — A at a coal mine in fatalities in the coal sector. central China on Tuesday killed 13 people, state It reflects the changes that have taken place in media said, in the latest accident to hit the the culture of mine sites." nation's mining industry. QLD: Service to farewell NZ The blast took place at 7:40 pm (1140 GMT) in Mianchi County in central Henan province, the mine blast victim state-run reported, while Extract from ABC News Online, Aus 33 miners were working underground. Hundreds of people are expected to gather at a Twenty miners escaped alive from the Juyuan memorial service on south-east Queensland's Coal Industry Company mine but the remaining Fraser Coast today to remember Willy Joynson, 13 were confirmed dead early Wednesday, who was killed in last month's provincial work safety bureau director Zhang mine explosion. Guohui was quoted as saying.

China's mining industry suffers frequent disasters, with floods, explosions and shaft collapses killing thousands each year.

Last year 2,631 Chinese miners were killed, according to official statistics, but independent labour groups say the true figure is likely to be much higher as many accidents are believed to be covered up.

Mr Joynson has been described as a fine citizen who had QLD: Lights not practical, court dedicated his life to mining. (AAP: New Zealand Police) told Family, friends and former workmates will gather Extract from The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton, Qld, Aus at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses at 11:00am (AEST) in Tinana, south of THE Supreme Court at Rockhampton yesterday Maryborough, to farewell Mr Joynson. heard it was impractical to light an area in a mine where a man fell down a hole. The 49-year-old was among 29 men trapped after an explosion at the Pike River Mine in New John Arthur Osborne is suing Downer EDI Zealand on November 19. Mining for $1.4 million after the accident at the Cracow Gold Mine on May 6, 2005. A second explosion five days later ended all hope the men had survived. Mr Osborne claimed the mine’s management was responsible because the path had not been Mr Joynson has been described as a fine citizen lit, the unsafe area was not barricaded and he who had dedicated his life to mining. was not informed where it was. He had worked in the Wide Bay-Burnett and Yesterday Richard Morton, for Downer EDI, central Queensland regions before moving with asked Department of Environment and his wife and two sons to New Zealand a year Resource Management mines inspector Terry ago.

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Fisher whether it was practical for the open 4 Killed in Coal Mine Tunnel stope to be subject to permanent lighting. Collapse in NE China Mr Fisher said it was not because of the blasting Extract from CRIENGLISH.COM that was carried out at the mine. Four miners have been confirmed dead, after a According to court documents, at 7am on the coal mine tunnel collapsed Tuesday afternoon in morning of the accident Mr Osborne was northeast China's Province, the local verbally instructed by an employee of the mine authorities said Wednesday. to go to a tunnel and drill a series of cable bolt The provincial coal mine safety department said holes. the accident happened at 4 p.m. Tuesday in When he entered the tunnel to find where the Caitun Coal Mine in City, when seven holes were to be drilled there was no artificial workers were working under the tunnel. Three of lighting bar that from his mining cap lamp. them managed to escape.

While walking along the tunnel he fell down an The state-controlled coal mine, which turned out open stope receiving the multiple fractures, head 600,000 tonnes last year, was under renovation injuries as well as memory loss. when the accident happened. The provincial coal mine safety department has set up a The trial was expected to finish tomorrow. working group to investigate into the accident. DR Congo mine collapse kills 20 USA: Judge upholds W.Va. Extract from Xinhua mine accident reporting rule About 20 miners were killed when a tin mine Extract from Associated Press collapsed in the central Democratic Republic of CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County Congo, the local government said Tuesday. Circuit judge has upheld a West Virginia law The accident was caused by torrential rains requiring coal mine operators to report serious Saturday night, which was operated illegally, an accidents such as fires to mining authorities official from the central Maniema province said within 15 minutes. on condition of anonymity. The ruling comes in a case involving an A rescue team had arrived at the mine, but the International Coal Group Inc. subsidiary that was chances of finding survivors are very slim, he fined $100,000 for waiting too long to report a said. gas ignition in 2008. Judge Tod Kaufman ruled Owners of the mine did not report the cave-in to Nov. 19 that Wolf Run Mining Co. failed to report the government. the ignition by the 15-minute mark and reinstated the fine, which had been overturned DR Congo President Joseph Kabila decided in by the state Coal Mine Safety Board of Appeals. September to suspend mining activities in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and The decision is the first legal test for the Maniema in an effort to curb the illegal reporting requirement, one of a myriad of exploitation and trade in minerals in those changes in state law passed after the deaths of regions. 12 miners at ICG's Sago Mine on Jan. 2, 2006.

Deadly mine disasters are common because of It's also another victory for the state Office of illegal mining supported by local rebel groups Miners' Health Safety and Training, which and lack of safety regulations. brought the appeal. In 2008, Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Duke Bloom reinstated a $100,000 late reporting fine against Massey

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Energy Co. after the Board of Appeals cut it to This week in mining accident $10,000. history Assistant Attorney General Elaine Skorich said 9 December 1911 the state mine office is thrilled. Cross Mountain Coal Mine "It's reassuring to know that the laws passed Briceville, Tennessee, USA after the are working to Underground coal mine promote safety for West Virginia's coal miners," 84 killed by explosion Skorich said. Source: www.usmra.com & www.coalcreekaml.com

Scott Depot-based ICG is considering an Briceville, Tenn., Dec. 9 -- Between 126 and 156 appeal, General Counsel Roger Nicholson said. men are entombed here to-night in the great Cross Mountain Coal Mine of the Knoxville Iron "We're disappointed by the Judge's ruling, and Company. They had entered to begin the day's believe that the Board's earlier decision that work when at 7:30 o'clock this morning a terrific Wolf Run had not violated the required explosion, which shook the county, wrecked the immediate notice provision was the correct one," workings. Nicholson said in an e-mail. "We will review the decision and determine whether Wolf Run will Three only have come out alive. They had seek further judicial review." entered a lateral off the main shaft and succeeded in getting into the open before the The case centered on the briefest of accidents flames and smoke caught them. They are John at ICG's Sentinel Mine in Barbour County. It was Lang, Sam Farmer, and Bert Haymaker. just after midnight on May 21, 2008 when a Warned by the blast's rumble, they escaped miner reported seeing an orange glow perhaps 7 before overtaken by flames. They say they feet high for a few seconds, according to court observed had "signs" as they entered the mine. records. Three other miners told their foreman They believe the exact location of the blast is at that they, too, had seen something. least two miles in the interior and a thousand Their foreman, however, couldn't find evidence feet from the mountain crest. of an ignition and the section had normal The body of Lee Polston, operator of the mine's methane levels and air flow, and he was fan plant, was found first buried and mangled unconvinced. A second foreman finally reported under the cave-in in the main shaft. Later two the incident to the state mine office and its bodies were found by rescuing party within few federal counterpart. feet of each other, badly blackened and Kaufman's ruling is succinct: State law requires mangled, near an air shaft 2,000 feet from the reporting within 15 minutes, an ignition occurred entrance. and Wolf Run should have reported it promptly. The rescue work is under the direction of Supt. The board was wrong to decide in Wolf Run's P. F. Lynch of the mine, President T. I. favor and to decide the state mine office hadn't Stephenson of the operating company, and two proved a violation occurred, he wrote. crews from the mine rescue service of the Federal Government. ICG also was cited by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for missing its 15- One of the latter is under the direction of Edgar minute reporting deadline. The company is S. Sutton, foreman miner in charge of the contesting a $4,000 fine, according to the Knoxville rescue station, and the other under agency's website. William Burke's engineer, in charge of mine rescue car No. 7, which reached Briceville at 5:30 o'clock this afternoon from Artemus.

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Rescue workers are making scarcely any Inspector of the mine for eight years. He headway. The Government rescue car and remained in the mine nearly all of Friday night. force is on hand with rescuers and engineers He said that there was no trace of gases when from all over the district. he emerged.

The shafts extend two miles into the mountain. The mine also was recently inspected by an According to President T. I. Stephenson of the Inspector under George E. Sylvester, State Mine iron company, the men, if they had reached their Inspector and a representative of a casualty posts were in lateral shafts when the explosion company which carries insurance on the occurred. This encourages those on the surface employees of the company, and is said to have to hope that many may be living. reported that is was in excellent condition.

Rescue work was checked before 11 o'clock. President Stephenson made the following Great billows of flame began to belch from the statement late this afternoon: openings. Members of rescue squads who were "I deeply regret the accident in the mine, and I driven from the mine declared they had am bending every effort to rescue the men who advanced a mile into the main shaft, and that in are entombed. I am in hope that the men will be that distance they had discovered no signs of reached. According to the topography of the the imprisoned men. mine, the gases go generally into the entry in Just before they were driven out they which the explosion took place. Most of the men encountered a cave-in in each of the entries. in the place must have gone into the cross- They found dense and compact deposits of sections where they are employed in mining, slate, earth, rock, and coal in the main shaft of and this, therefore, causes me to believe that the mine, and also in an abandoned entry which they escaped fatality, at least some of them." had been used for an airshaft. President Stephenson declared he did not About the mouth of a vertical ventilator leading believe the casualties would be as large as were to the top of the mountain fires have been built first reported. He did not believe there were to create, if possible, a circulation of air from many men in the mine at the time of the within the mines. explosion.

It is not yet possible to determine whether this He said the mine is usually manned by 126 blockading of the entry is shallow or whether it workers, who were brought each morning to the extends hundreds of feet or a mile or more. mine in trains. Mr. Stephenson said he Wood posts are trusses in the shaft have been understood several of these trains were late this blown outward, and this, miners state, is morning, which would have delayed the miners indicative of a serious explosion beyond. in getting into the shaft. He thinks large Brattices are being constructed by means of numbers of workers had not got into the mine which air is being forced into the channel as fast before the blast. as it is possible to remove the debris. The first intimation of the explosion was a slight There are three theories as to the cause of the concussion at the shaft; then smoke curled out explosion. One is that in some manner powder from the opening. or dust exploded, the second is that an electric Mr. Stephenson said he thought there would wire came in contact with , and the have been greater disturbance about the shaft third that the explosion was caused by poor opening if the explosion had been of tamping of a drill. tremendous force. The mine was thoroughly inspected Friday of last week by J. F. Hatmaker, who has been

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The rumble of the explosion brought great was extended up the Coal Creek Valley and into crowds to the mine opening, and company Slatestone Hollow. Over the years, large officials made immediate preparations to amounts of volatile coal dust had accumulated in organize rescue operations. Throngs of women the mine's shafts. Although Cross Mountain was and children clamoured to be allowed to make classified as a non-gassy mine, methane gas their way inside to aid in the rescue. Many of was detected during the subsequent the women knew their husbands had entered investigation at 25 Left entry. On the morning of the mine, but most maintained brave hearts. A December 9, 1911, a roof fall occurred near one majority of them had witnessed similar scenes. of the mine's entrances, which released methane gas into the air. The gas and coal dust Hugh Larue, a miner, owes his life to a dream probably ignited when a miner approached the his wife had last night. When he prepared this roof fall with an open light. The explosion killed morning to go to his daily task Mrs. Larue or trapped the 89 miners who had gone into the refused to prepare his lunch. She did not want mine that morning. him to work. She said she dreamed she saw scores of miners with their heads blown off A crowd consisting of miners' families and being carried out of the mine entrance as she curious onlookers quickly gathered at the Cross and her children stood at the mine's mouth. Mountain Mine as miners and engineers immediately initiated a rescue operation. A Larue had not missed a day from work for many ventilation fan was brought from a nearby mine months, but he was prevailed upon to-day to and used to expel the afterdamp and force air remain out of the mines. It was only a short time into the mine shafts. A rescue crew from the after Mrs. Larue recited her story when the Bureau of Mines— which had been created the explosion occurred. previous year— arrived at around noon Briceville, which is in Anderson County, has had equipped with gas masks, oxygen tanks, and a stormy history. It was the scene in the early caged canaries. Water was piped into the mine nineties of rioting when miners rebelled against from a nearby brook, allowing the Bureau crews working with convicts leased by the State. to extinguish fires and erect brattices. Troops were sent there to quell the trouble. At Around midnight, the first three bodies were Coal Creek, near there, on May 19, 1902, 200 brought out of the mine. Two bodies were men were killed in the Fraterville mine explosion. recovered the following day. On Monday, From the New York Times, December 10, 1911 rescue workers followed miners' inscriptions to an area where five miners had barricaded themselves with several tubs of drinking water. Two of the miners were burned, and two had left the barricaded area to find a way out, although all five were found alive. On December 19, the last two miners— Alonzo Wood and Eugene Ault— were found dead behind another barricade. Before suffocating, Ault and Wood managed to inscribe "farewell" messages to Friends and relatives awaiting news of the rescue efforts after the Cross Mountain Mine explosion in Briceville on their families on the barricade wall. December 9, 1911 Editor’s note: The Cross Mountain Mine The explosion and recovery efforts operation was one of the first major rescue Major mining operations began at the Cross efforts carried out by the Bureau of Mines. Mountain Mine in 1888, when a railroad spur line Although only 5 of the 89 miners trapped by the

Page 17 Mining Accident News No.1036 explosion were rescued, the bureau collected to work when violations lead regulators to close invaluable information that aided later mine a mine. rescue efforts. The rescue effort also helped the “There are life-threatening gaps in our mine bureau's public image, and ensured continued safety laws,” said Representative George Miller, funding in the future. a California Democrat and sponsor of the measure. “We’ve tried it the other way, with self- enforcement, and it doesn’t work.”

Lawmakers and regulators have been examining steps to boost safety after an April 5 explosion ripped Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, the worst U.S. mine accident in 40 years. The mine has been cited by regulators for deficiencies in ventilation and for buildups of combustible coal dust before the explosion.

Manufacturer Opposition Bureau of Mines Rescue Crew Business groups led by the National Association Thursday 9 December 2010 of Manufacturers said the bill would limit appeals by employers and lacked incentives for Mine-Safety Measure Giving companies to improve workplace safety U.S. Regulator More Powers programs. “It seeks to create a solution to a Fails to Pass House problem we don’t fully understand,” said Extract from Bloomberg, USA Representative Brett Guthrie, a Republican. Legislation giving regulators expanded power to shut mines with repeated safety violations, such Massey is challenging the mine-safety agency as the Massey Energy Co. mine where 29 coal over ventilation requirements at Upper Big miners died this year, failed to pass in the House Branch. The company said in a June lawsuit that of Representatives. MSHA rejected a system that it said would have aided workers and forced installation of a Lawmakers voted 214-193 for the bill, less than complex setup in an area where miners are the two- thirds majority needed for expedited working at the time of the blast. action today after the National Association of Manufacturers fought the additional regulations Regulators are seeking to change a system in on companies. Republicans, who take control of which Massey and other mining companies the House next month, opposed the measure appeal safety violations to delay or avoid safety and don’t plan to consider it in the new enforcement actions. Congress. The legislation is H.R. 6495. The measure, approved by the House Labor and Education Committee in July, would have Mining dictionary boosted penalties for some types of mine-safety A guide to coal mining terminology violations and added protections for whistleblowers who report safety lapses. It A would expand subpoena powers of the Mine ADB Air Dried Basis. Safety and Health Administration and provide -Ed additional pay protection for employees unable

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