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In paragraph 9 of the characteristically useless news story, is the line: "Poisonous gases have filled the underground tunnels since Monday afternoon's blast." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100408/ap_on_bi_ge/us_mine_explosion (broken link)
It appears, from careful re-reading, that the working mine has systems in place designed to keep the air fresh, but after the blast, the systems have been left disabled and non-functioning, so the gas buildup cannot be neutralized. So the condition of the atmosphere in the mine before the blast cannot be inferred from the conditions that prevail now.
Journalism in America has reached an unbelievable low level of ass-covering to the point that it is impossible to glean any information about "what really happened" from any mainstream news reports. Partly due to the fact that reporters have so little eclectic knowledge about anything, that they are unable to think of intelligent question, and report only the words of people trying to be either evasive or hysterical. They've been to Journalism school, and have mastered the style guide, and understand libel, and that's about it. In the above story, the investigative priority was to get vigil-walker Anna West's age right (34).
What i don't understand is when after all these violations they just can't at some point shut some of these mines down.The probelm with libel is that since the westmoreland case with 60 minutes ;it bascially cleared them to knowingly lie.
This is going to sound horrible but I'm just going to throw this out there. A while ago, I watched a story about those mining towns and miners + families in WV. Most of the residents are a bunch of poor meth addicts, they live off of Mountain Dew and meth. I can't make this stuff up. The miners know the dangers but according to them it's what they do. They can't find other work in the area and that's all they know anyway because their fathers and their grandfathers mined the same mines. The mines are dangerous, the entire community knows it. They choose to live their lives there and it's sad when this kind of tragedy happens but, it's a way of life for them. Those mines will never be shut down because there will always be miners willing to mine them and someone is profiting.
This is going to sound horrible but I'm just going to throw this out there. A while ago, I watched a story about those mining towns and miners + families in WV. Most of the residents are a bunch of poor meth addicts, they live off of Mountain Dew and meth. I can't make this stuff up. The miners know the dangers but according to them it's what they do. They can't find other work in the area and that's all they know anyway because their fathers and their grandfathers mined the same mines. The mines are dangerous, the entire community knows it. They choose to live their lives there and it's sad when this kind of tragedy happens but, it's a way of life for them. Those mines will never be shut down because there will always be miners willing to mine them and someone is profiting.
I have no reason to disbelieve you. There are plenty of guys down here who work on the rigs in the gulf, and control the meth industry when they are ashore. How widespread it is, I have no idea, but I know it does occur, and I cant see why coal miners would be any different from gulf oil riggers.
By the way, coal mining has been made relatively safe. In China, the number of coal mining deaths per unit of coal extracted is about 50 times what it is in the USA.
Whether those people are drug addicts or white collar criminals, they are still human and they are helping to create a huge energy source for the US. It is just too bad that organizations like OSHA and MSHA (I think that is right) do not enforce safety regulations and be proactive in preventing such disasters.
My nephew has worked on offshore rigs in the gulf and my husband worked in the Persian Gulf. I have never heard of roughnecks controlling a meth industry, that is....I'm sorry I'm laughing. Now, there was boat filled with cocain from somewhere in Latin America that was stopped in the gulf somewhere around Texas. I believe the industry belongs to Mexicans and Latinos.
Cheers
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