At a congressional hearing Monday, examining the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners in April, workers and families of those killed in the explosion described an environment where workers feared to express concerns about safety violations because they might lose their jobs. Testimony "described a culture that put production ahead of safety and where violations were corrected only after company guards warned that inspectors were on their way underground," Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports. Upper Big Branch is owned by Massey Energy.
"When MSHA is not present, there is no thought of doing anything other than producing coal," Gary Quarles, a coal miner who lost his son, Gary Wayne Quarles, in the disaster, said. The testimony came during "a field hearing held by the House Education and Labor Committee to hear from those most directly affected by the worst U.S. coal-mining disaster in 40 years," Ward writes. Steve Morgan, whose 21-year-old son Adam died at Upper Big Branch, said his son "told him at least weekly of dangerous levels of methane underground and that ventilation curtains meant to feed fresh air to the longwall mining machine's workers were regularly removed," Ward writes.
"[Mine Safety and Health Administration] inspections at Massey did little to protect miners," Quarles said. "We absolutely looked to MSHA for leadership, particularly on safety issues, but MSHA has let us down many times." Despite those fears, no one felt safe complaining to management, continuous miner operator Stanley Stewart said. "No one felt they could go to management and express their fears or the lack of air on our sections," Stewart said. "We knew that we'd be marked men and the management would look for ways to fire us." (Read more)
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