Massey: W.Va. mine clear of gases before explosion

[April 27, 2010]  CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Air samples did not show high levels of explosive gases just before an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine that killed 29 workers, and what caused the disaster remains unknown, the mine's owner said Monday.

Massey Energy Co. board director Stanley Suboleski said the samples were taken by foremen as part of a shift-change exam at the Upper Big Branch mine, just "tens of minutes" before the blast.

Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater later said he could not be more specific about the time. The examination also showed that air flow in the underground mine was fine, Suboleski said.

"All the indicators are that at the start of the shift, everything was OK," said Suboleski, a mining engineer.

Suboleski, two other Massey board directors and Chief Executive Don Blankenship spoke at a company news conference Monday to address several issues related to the explosion, the nation's worst coal mining disaster in 40 years.

"This has left us humbled and hurt, and searching for answers," Blankenship said.

The news conference was held a day after President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Joe Manchin led a memorial for the fallen miners. Two other miners were injured in the blast.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued the mine eight citations for violating preshift examination rules in 2010. Suboleski told reporters that 60 percent of the violations in the last 16 months were deemed "nonserious or nonsubstantial" by inspectors, and that the overall number was comparable to those at similar Appalachian coalfield operations.

Suboleski noted the "inordinate" amount of MSHA orders last year alleging the most serious kinds of violations. Massey assigned two full-time employees to the mine in response, he said, and the agency issued 80 percent fewer such orders in the seven months before the blast.

While adding that he was not alleging they had made the mine less safe, Suboleski also cited how MSHA ordered changes to the ventilation system that Massey's engineers initially opposed. These changes made the system more complicated and reduced its air flow, he said.

MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere said such "adverse mining conditions" as heaving floors and accumulating water preceded Massey's decision to adopt the changes.

"The system in place could not be effectively maintained by the operator to ventilate the mine," Louviere said. "Massey had one of two choices: either repair the conditions or revise the ventilation plan."

Massey Board Director Bobby Inman called allegations that the company put profits over safety a "big lie." He blamed such sentiment on plaintiffs lawyers and leaders of the AFL-CIO and United Mine Workers union. The UMW said Monday that it would help investigate the blast, and both it and the AFL-CIO rejected Inman's comments as spin.

"The big truth is, 52 people have been killed on Massey property since 2000," said Phil Smith, a UMW spokesman. "No other coal company has had even half that. The numbers are pretty clear."

Inman also repeated the board's recent expression of confidence in Blankenship, who has become lightning rod for criticism of the Richmond, Va.,-based company and its handling of the mine. He said the handful of institutional investors suing or calling for Blankenship to resign hold about 2 percent of the company's stock, but have gotten "disproportionate public treatment."

Federal regulators have identified highly explosive methane gas, coal dust or a mixture of the two as the likely cause of the blast, but the ignition source is unknown. Methane levels in the mine remain unsafe, and it could be a month before investigators can get inside to determine what caused the blast.

The nation's top mine safety official is expected to testify at a Senate hearing Tuesday, and Obama has ordered a broad review of coal mines with poor safety records.

Meanwhile at the news conference, the company also promised to provide financial packages to the families of the miners killed. It will include five times the miner's annual pay as life insurance benefits, an additional payment to surviving spouses, health coverage both for them and dependent children, and four years' worth of college or vocational education at any accredited school in West Virginia for those children.

Director Robert Foglesong said accepting those benefits would not prevent a family from pursuing any legal claims. The widow of William Griffith has already filed a wrongful death lawsuit, while the mother of Adam Morgan has won a court order preserving relevant records and potential evidence from the disaster.

A lawyer for Griffith's family said some the compensation was coming from insurance proceeds.

"I think it's grotesque that Massey is trying to make a public relations grab by pretending that it is handing money out to these widows and families," said the lawyer, Mark Moreland of Charleston.

Gillenwater said the education funds, health coverage and part of the additional survivor payment will come from the company, and not from the miners' insurance policies.

Other families said they wanted more details or a chance to speak with attorneys before collecting any compensation. But Michelle McKinney, the daughter of miner Benny Willingham, repeated earlier claims that the disaster was preventable and faulted Massey for failing to alert her family in the hours after the blast.

"I feel like they owe us more than that. I really do," McKinney said of the compensation package. "I hope Don Blankenship loses everything he has."

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On the Net:

Mine Safety and Health Administration:
http://www.msha.gov/

Massey Energy Co.:
http://www.masseyenergyco.com/

[Associated Press; By LAWRENCE MESSINA]

Associated Press staff writers Tim Huber and John Raby in Charleston contributed to this report.

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