Mine Victims' Families Recall Fear, Safety Issues
Alice Peters wipes away a tear during her testimony - Alice Peters, mother-in-law of Upper Big Branch victim Edward "Dean" Jones, testified Monday at a congressional hearing in Beckley, W.Va. Peters said that Jones, a mine foreman, was told he'd be fired if he took his men out of the mine because of safety threats. (Jon C. Hancock / AP)
Alice Peters heard so many stories about danger in the Upper Big Branch mine that she would call in fake medical emergencies to get her son-in-law out to safety.
But she didn't call on April 5, when a massive explosion killed section foreman Dean Jones and 28 of his fellow mine workers.
Peters told a congressional hearing in Beckley, W.Va., on Monday that she and her daughter sent faxes about the safety problems at Upper Big Branch to Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, the owner of the West Virginia coal mine. Blankenship didn't respond, Peters testified.
(Jon C. Hancock / AP)
Jones himself warned Massey "at least seven times," Peters added. "They told him if he shut down the [coal] production ... he would lose his job."
Concern About Ventilation Problems
Jones and other mine workers were concerned about ventilation problems in the mine, according to Peters and relatives of other mine blast victims testifying at the hearing.
Adequate ventilation disperses volatile and explosive methane gas and coal dust.
"We never had proper air on that longwall," said Stanley Stewart, a 15-year veteran of Upper Big Branch, who has spent a total of 34 years working underground. The longwall is a mining machine 1,000 feet long that scrapes coal from a coal seam. "You couldn't see your hand in front of your face all day long" due to dust and gas, Stewart added.
Steve Morgan's son, Adam, often complained to his dad about ventilation, coal dust and methane gas. Adam was a 21-year-old trainee, but his father spent 29 years in coal mines. Morgan told his son to go to his foreman and tell him when conditions were unsafe.
"The boss pulled him to the side there by himself and told him ... 'If you're going to be that scared of your job there, you need to rethink your career,' " Morgan told the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Trapped In A Job, Fears Of Repercussions
Peters testified that her son-in-law was essentially trapped in his job, despite the safety concerns. Jones' son has cystic fibrosis and other medical problems that require constant care and good medical insurance, she said.
"He continued to work in that mine even though he knew it was unsafe," Peters said. "And he was afraid of being fired [and] losing his health insurance coverage."
The Friday before the blast, Jones told Peters and other members of his family that he had complained to his supervisors about inadequate airflow where he and his men worked. Shifting the ventilation in a mine often requires evacuating miners and shutting down production.
"You load coal," Peters said Jones was told. "[The supervisor] told him he would fire him" if Jones closed down that section. "He said, 'You pack your bags and leave.' "
"No one felt they could go to management and express their fears or the lack of air on their sections," recalled Stewart, who was heading into the mine when the explosion occurred. "We knew that we'd be marked men, and that management would look for ways to fire us."
Investigating Warnings About Inspector Arrivals
Mine officials at Upper Big Branch also warned supervisors underground when federal mine inspectors arrived, according to Gary Quarles, whose son Gary Wayne Quarles died in the blast.
"The code words go out: 'We've got a man on the property,' " Quarles said. "Those words are radioed from the guard gates and relayed to all working operations in the mine."
That "seems like obstruction of justice," noted committee chairman Rep. George Miller (D-CA). After the hearing, federal mine safety chief Joe Main said allegations of inspection warnings were being investigated by his agency and the FBI, which is conducting a criminal probe.
Quarles also complained about mine safety oversight from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
"MSHA inspections at Massey did little to protect miners," Quarles said. "MSHA has let us down many times."
Some of those testifying have worked in union coal mines, and they said union mine workers have a formal role in safety enforcement. Upper Big Branch is a nonunion mine.
"When you give people the right to not do illegal things, then they're going to not produce as much coal," said Eddie Cook, an uncle of Adam Morgan and a three-decade veteran of union coal mines. "And that's the name of the game ... profit to Massey."
Massey's Response
No one from Massey Energy testified at the hearing, but afterward the company issued a brief statement.
"Massey does not place profits over safety. Period," the statement said.
In its statement, the company did not address any of the specific allegations made at the hearing.
"We appreciate the continuing efforts by Congress and federal and state agencies to determine the specific cause of the Upper Big Branch explosion," the statement continued. "Our focus remains on providing for the families affected by this tragic accident and cooperating with state and federal agencies to determine its cause."
At a Senate hearing last week, Don Blankenship was skeptical about claims that company managers threatened workers with dismissal if they expressed concerns about safety. Blankenship also said Massey Energy doesn't tolerate managers gaming the inspection system by warning supervisors underground when federal inspectors arrive. In fact, he claimed, some employees were fired recently for violating that policy.
As the scheduled portion of the hearing concluded, Miller invited other relatives of Upper Big Branch victims to come forward. Only Leo Long responded, dragging an oxygen tank with him to the witness table. Long raised his grandson, Ronald Lee Maynor -- a father of two -- who was killed in the explosion.
Fighting back tears, Long pleaded with the congressional committee: "I'm asking you all to please do something for the rest of the coal miners that's in the mines. If you all don't do something, something like this will happen again."
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MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
And I'm Michele Norris.
Family members of 29 miners who died in an explosion last month gave a chilling account today of life underground before the blast. Speaking together for the first time at a public hearing, they described mine managers who took dangerous shortcuts and then threatened to fire workers who complained about them.
The mine's owner, Massey Energy, continues to insist it puts safety above all else.
NPR's Frank Langfitt has the story.
FRANK LANGFITT: Stanley Stewart was inside the Upper Big Branch Mine when it blew April 5th. Stewart, who ran a coal cutting machine, was stunned by the explosion, but not surprised. Speaking before a House committee today, he said the mine had serious safety problems; so serious, he said, he warned his wife he might die.
Mr. STANLEY STEWART (Miner, Upper Big Branch Mine): In fact, last July, because I was so scared and mad, I told my wife, Mindy, if anything happens to me for her to get a lawyer and sue them. I told her, I said: This place is a ticking time bomb.
LANGFITT: Stewart said managers at the Upper Big Branch Mine never seemed able to get enough fresh air to where workers were cutting coal. Air dilutes methane gas and disperses potentially explosive coal dust. A proper airflow system is crucial to preventing blasts.
Mr. STEWART: And management, I don't know, I would refer to them as the village idiots. They don't know how to ventilate a coal mine.
LANGFITT: Stewart worked at Upper Big Branch for 15 years. He said complaining about safety could cost you your job.
Mr. STEWART: We knew that we'd be marked men and the management would look for ways to fire us, maybe not that day or that week, but somewhere down the line we'd disappear.
LANGFITT: Stewart was not the only person who said Massey threatened to fire workers over safety matters. Alice Peters is the mother-in-law of Dean Jones, a foreman who died in the accident. Peters said her son-in-law had also complained to the company about airflow in the mine.
Ms. ALICE PETERS: He often told me and his wife that he was afraid to go to work because the condition at the mine were so bad. He also told me, at least seven times, they told him if he shut down the productions because of ventilation problems, he would lose his job.
LANGFITT: Massey did not testify at today's hearing, which was held in Beckley, West Virginia. But it released the following statement: We appreciate the continuing efforts by Congress and federal and state agencies to determine the specific cause of the Upper Big Branch explosion. Our focus remains on providing for the families affected by this tragic accident and cooperating with the state and federal agencies to determine its cause.
Company CEO Don Blankenship has expressed skepticism that workers were ever threatened with their jobs. He says Massey has an anonymous tip line for safety problems. And on Capitol Hill last week, Blankenship said this:
Mr. DON BLANKENSHIP (CEO, Massey Energy): Let me state for the record: Massey does not place profits over safety. We never have and we never will, period.
LANGFITT: But Massey miner Gary Quarles, who lost his son in the blast, says the company was in such a rush to make money, it cut corners on safety and would only fix problems when inspectors from the Mine Safety and Health Administration or MSHA showed up.
Mr. GARY QUARLES: When an MSHA inspector comes onto a Massey mines property, the code word goes out: We've got a man on the property. When the word goes out, all effort is made to correct any violations or direct the inspectors from violations.
LANGFITT: George Miller, a California Democrat, oversaw the hearing. Miller said alerting miners to fix violations as inspectors approach runs counter to the intent of the law.
Representative GEORGE MILLER (Democrat, California; Chairman, House Education and Labor Committee): Somehow, that just on its face has to be an obstruction of justice. I mean, you're interfering with this really lifesaving activity that goes on on a regular basis.
LANGFITT: Blankenship says Massey won't tolerate employees gaming the inspection system. And when some were caught recently doing so, he fired them.
Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Beckley, West Virginia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
