A history of “serious and substantial” violations
International Coal Group Inc. owners and operators of the Sago Mine in central West Virginia indicated just hours after the Sago mine disaster, that recent citations against their mine were “minor”. Meanwhile, the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration report that 18 of the 46 citations were “significant and substantial”. Over the past two years, the Sago Mine had been slapped with over 270 citations of which nearly 1/3 were “significant and substantial” including, mine roofs that tend to collapse without warning, faulty or inadequate tunnel support, failure to adequately insulate wiring (which could cause dangerous sparks), and dangerous buildups of flammable coal dust.
MSHA documents also show that the number of working days lost during the last five years because of on-the-job accidents is nearly double the national average. Also, during the last eight months, at least 16 violations were cited by MSHA that were listed as “unwarrantable failures”, meaning the company had been previously warned about the violations or they were due to indifference or extreme lack of care.
The Sago mine disaster
12 Sago miners died in an explosion on January 2 after being trapped 260 feet below the surface. The miners waited two days for rescuers – one miner survived the initial disaster but was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The accident received worldwide attention when news spread that 12 of the 13 miners had miraculously survived the accident and extended rescue attempt after over two days of being trapped underground. Family members were outraged when they discovered that Company owners received word only 20 minutes later that the news was false – and neglected to pass along the corrected, albeit heartbreaking, news to them.
The lone survivor – Randal L. McCloy barely makes it out alive
Of the thirteen miners, Randal L. McCloy Jr., 26, was the only survivor from those trapped at the Sago mine. He was removed from the site at approximately 1:30 a.m. on January 4, and transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital (Buckhannon, West Virginia). After being stabilized there, McCloy was transported by ambulance later that morning to a level 1 trauma center at West Virginia University’s Ruby Memorial Hospital, 50 miles away in Morgantown. He was found to be suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, a collapsed lung, brain hemorrhaging, edema, muscle injury, faulty liver and heart function.
On the evening of January 5, McCloy was transferred to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh to receive infusions of oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber to counteract the effects of carbon monoxide. On January 7, he returned to Ruby Memorial Hospital where he remained in a coma. On January 18, doctors reported McCloy was showing signs of gradual awakening. On January 25, doctors reported McCloy was emerging from the coma, but was still unable to talk.
On January 26, 2006, West Virginia Hospitals announced that McCloy had been transferred from Ruby Memorial to its HealthSouth Mountainview Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Morgantown, and was under the care of a rehabilitation specialist. He was responsive, could eat, but was still unable to talk. McCloy recovered almost fully after months of physical therapy, but he stated he still suffered from some vision and hearing impairment as well as weakness on the right side of his body.
Private funerals for the 12 deceased miners were held on January 8 to 10, 2006. A public memorial service was held on January 15 for them at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon.[citation needed] More than 2,000 attended the service, which was televised live on CNN. Among the speakers were Governor Joe Manchin and author and West Virginia native Homer Hickam. Both of West Virginia’s U.S. senators, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, and U.S. Representative Shelley Capito also attended, but did not speak.
A first-hand account of the disaster
McCloy wrote a letter to the families of the victims, which was published in the Charleston Gazette on April 28, 2006. McCloy wrote that three weeks before the explosion, he and Junior Toler found, while drilling a bolt hole, a gas pocket, which detectors confirmed the presence of methane. “We immediately shut down the roof bolter, and the incident was reported up the line to our superiors. I noticed the following day that the gas leak had been plugged with glue normally used to secure the bolts.”
He remembered that on January 2, 2006, just after exiting the mantrip, “the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable….” At least four of the emergency oxygen packs were not functioning. “I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.” Because of the bad air, they “had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet.”
They “attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface.”
After becoming exhausted, they stopped trying to signal. “The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths… I could tell that it was gassy.” According to McCloy, Toler and Anderson tried to find a way out. “The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas.” At that point the miners, despite their fears, “began to accept our fate. Toler led us all in the Sinner’s Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones.”
McCloy “became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it were our time to go, then God’s will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue.
Letter from Randal McCloy to victims’ families
To the families and loved ones of my co-workers, victims of the Sago Mine disaster:
The explosion happened soon after the day shift arrived at the mine face on January 2, right after we got out of the man-trip. I do not recall whether I had started work, nor do I have any memory of the blast. I do remember that the mine filled quickly with fumes and thick smoke, and that breathing conditions were nearly unbearable.
The first thing we did was activate our rescuers, as we had been trained. At least four of the rescuers did not function. I shared my rescuer with Jerry Groves, while Junior Toler, Jesse Jones and Tom Anderson sought help from others. There were not enough rescuers to go around.
We then tried to return to the man-trip, yelling to communicate through the thick smoke. The air was so bad that we had to abandon our escape attempt and return to the coal rib, where we hung a curtain to try to protect ourselves. The curtain created an enclosed area of about 35 feet.
We attempted to signal our location to the surface by beating on the mine bolts and plates. We found a sledgehammer, and for a long time, we took turns pounding away. We had to take off the rescuers in order to hammer as hard as we could. This effort caused us to breathe much harder. We never heard a responsive blast or shot from the surface.
We eventually gave out and quit our attempts at signaling, sitting down behind the curtain on the mine floor, or on buckets or cans that some of us found. The air behind the curtain grew worse, so I tried to lie as low as possible and take shallow breaths. While methane does not have an odor like propane and is considered undetectable, I could tell that it was gassy. We all stayed together behind the curtain from that point on, except for one attempt by Junior Toler and Tom Anderson to find a way out. The heavy smoke and fumes caused them to quickly return. There was just so much gas.
We were worried and afraid, but we began to accept our fate. Junior Toler led us all in the Sinners Prayer. We prayed a little longer, then someone suggested that we each write letters to our loved ones. I wrote a letter to Anna and my children. When I finished writing, I put the letter in Jackie Weaver’s lunch box, where I hoped it would be found.
As time went on, I became very dizzy and lightheaded. Some drifted off into what appeared to be a deep sleep, and one person sitting near me collapsed and fell off his bucket, not moving. It was clear that there was nothing I could do to help him. The last person I remember speaking to was Jackie Weaver, who reassured me that if it was our time to go, then God’s will would be fulfilled. As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else. I have no idea how much time went by before I also passed out from the gas and smoke, awaiting rescue.
I cannot begin to express my sorrow for my lost friends and my sympathy for those they left behind. I cannot explain why I was spared while the others perished. I hope that my words will offer some solace to the miners’ families and friends who have endured what no one should ever have to endure.
April 26, 2006
Randal McCloy Jr.
Notes from those who perished
Some of the coal miners who perished scrawled farewell notes to their loved ones. Here’s a sampling of what they wrote.
“Tell all I (will) see them on the other side,” read a note found with the body of 51-year-old mine foreman Martin Toler Jr. “I love you. It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep.
Tom Toler, Martin’s older brother who worked 30 years in the mine with him, said Thursday that the note was “written very lightly and very loosely” in block letters on the back of an insurance application form his brother had in his pocket. “I took it to mean that it was written in the final stages,” Tom Toler said. “I’d call it more or less scribbling.”
“The notes said they weren’t suffering, they were just going to sleep,” said one miner’s daughter, who planned to retrieve her father’s belongings to see if he had put such a note in his lunch box.
Bankruptcy forces mine to be sold
Sago was owned and operated by Anker West Mining Company until November 2005 when it was purchased by International Coal Group Inc. Anker West had been going through bankruptcy proceedings at the time of the sale. Sago employees around 150 employees.
Image Credits
In-Article Image Credits
entrance to Sago Mine, Sago, West Virginia via Wikimedia Commons by U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Arlington with usage type - Public Domain. 2007Featured Image Credit
entrance to Sago Mine, Sago, West Virginia via Wikimedia Commons by U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Arlington with usage type - Public Domain. 2007
