CHARLESTON (AP) —
Not all the lessons learned from the 2006 Sago Mine disaster may have been obvious when the Manchin administration applied them following the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.
Gov. Joe Manchin said those steps included locking down the command center that kept in touch with rescue teams searching the underground Massey Energy mine following the afternoon blast.
“We go in there, and I bring enough troopers in, we take people’s cell phones,” Manchin told The Associated Press last week. “We’ve got police at every door, watching... (Center staff) don’t get out and they don’t get their cell phones back until we give them the green light.”
Manchin said the goal was to provide the miners’ families with accurate information before anyone else. At Upper Big Branch, a total of 29 miners were found dead during rescue attempts that stretched over four days. Two more miners were injured.
“The families hear it first,” the governor said. “I never want a family member to hear something that’s not factual and doesn’t come from the authorities.”
At Sago, a message from rescuers was incorrectly relayed to the surface as meaning that 12 of the miners caught in that explosion were found alive. Manchin later said he was “caught up in the euphoria,” as were other officials, when that garbled report then spread by word of mouth. The false news only compounded the agony for the families once the true message reached them hours later that just one had actually survived.
“We learned from Sago that you have to control that communication, because people are listening, people are calling,” Manchin said. “Then the wrong message gets out, and you’ve seen what happens.”
The governor said that Massey officials were “very respectful toward that procedure.” He also said that the policy of “complete radio silence” dovetails with another lesson adopted after Sago, one of safeguarding the families.
“We protect the families completely, as best as we possibly can,” Manchin said. “They get 24/7 with the State Police, that protects them and them only. They see something they don’t like, wherever the family is awaiting to hear word, we take care of it through the State Police.”
At least some of the Upper Big Branch families agree with the governor that this lesson worked in their case. During the ceremony marking one week to the hour since the blast occurred, Manchin mentioned the protective efforts to the crowd gathered on the state Capitol grounds. Several of the family members attending the memorial nodded as the governor spoke.
“I hope that we did you proud, and with the respect that you deserve,” Manchin had said.
Throughout the days following the Raleigh County explosion, the governor and other officials were asked about other changes wrought by both the January 2006 Sago disaster and the fire later that month that killed two miners at Massey’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine. But the questions came amid evidence that those steps — emergency refuge chambers, caches of air packs, increased training and a more rapid rescue effort — did not stem the loss of life at Upper Big Branch.
For Manchin, the legacy of April 5 will likely be measures meant to prevent the sort of explosion that caused the worst coal mining disaster in 40 years.
The governor has focused on the probable fuel sources, methane gas and coal dust, as well as whatever provided the necessary spark to ignite it. When he ordered immediate inspections of underground mines last week, Manchin made signs of those conditions a top priority. He also named J. Davitt McAteer, the former Clinton administration mine safety chief, as a special adviser and independent investigator to help provide him with answers.
“They know that this country was built on what they do. We should not allow them to be in a situation volatile like this,” Manchin said of West Virginia’s miners. “We’re going to figure it out. We’re going to fix it.”
State News
April 19, 2010
Lockdown among Sago lessons applied in Upper Big Branch mine blast
- State News
-
- Capital Focus: Bill targets in-session fundraising by W.Va. legislators
- Texting while driving ban clears Virginia Senate panel
-
Capital Focus: In West Virginia’s political arena, lack of candidates shape races
West Virginia ended its candidate filing period Saturday, but the results of more than 50 of this year’s legislative races are already largely decided, according to a review by The Associated Press.
- Va. lawmaker urges study of pot sales at ABC stores
- W.Va. seeks edge in ‘cracker’ plant competition
- W.Va. marks start of 2012 with $56M in tax cuts
- Death penalty to be sought in three West Virginia slayings
- Liberty says 64 apply to bring guns on campus
- Capital Focus: W.Va. lawmakers see major gains heading into 2012
- Capital Focus: West Virginia close to OPEB paydown plan
- More State News Headlines
