NPR has a pretty chilling report on the investigation of Massey Energy's management of the Upper Big Branch mine ventilation. After listening to their report and reading the allegations miners made about the ventilation system it seems apparent that clowns were in charge of lifesaving ventilation systems.

Some snippets from mine safety inspectors' reports in the months leading up to the explosions:

Jan. 7, 2010: the air flow is not in the direction as shown on the approved map ... [miners] questioned management about this condition and they were told it was fine, not to worry about it.

March 9, 2010: Test[ed] air flow and it was flowing in the wrong direction. ... [I]nformed [manager's name blacked out] that the air was not according to the approved plan [and] that a citation would be issued [for] high negligence. ... All men [in that section] were removed from the mine.

Moving on to NPR's interviews with employees reveals an even uglier scene:

"They wouldn't fix the ventilation problems," a former supervisor and a member of mine management said. "I told them I needed more air. They threatened to fire me if I didn't run enough coal."

Another miner said "there was constant confusion" in the management of the airflow system.

A third miner described mine managers this way: "They don't have a clue how to ventilate this place."

It would seem there is either incompetence or negligence at this point, but it appears there may be more to the story still.

NPR first discovered the FBI investigation three weeks ago, when a reporter knocked on the door of the home of an Upper Big Branch miner. The man said he couldn't talk because he was in the middle of an interview with an FBI agent. NPR confirmed the federal criminal investigation with law enforcement sources familiar with the probe.

A reporter returned to the miner's home after the FBI interview. The miner said he was asked whether a Massey manager made unauthorized changes to the ventilation plan. He was also asked whether miners ever disabled methane monitors.

Asking the question doesn't mean anything like that happened, of course. At the same time, those kinds of questions aren't often asked without some indication there may actually be a possibility the ventilation plan or the monitors were tampered with, in which case Massey Energy should become the first corporate "person" to be tried for 29 counts of murder.

NPR is standing by their initial report that Massey Energy is being investigated for possible bribery and criminal negligence. A federal source is denying the story:

A federal law-enforcement source is denying that the Mine Safety and Health Administration is being investigated as part of a larger probe into the circumstances surrounding the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia.

NPR has reported that Massey Energy and MSHA were the subjects of investigations.

The federal law enforcement source said: "I can say that there's an investigation but it's not about them (MSHA)."

NPR stands by its earlier report.

The original post is below:

NPR News has learned that the Mine Safety and Health Administration is one subject of a federal criminal investigation surrounding the explosion of the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia three weeks ago -- a disaster that killed 29 miners. The probe also looks at Massey Energy, the owner of the mine.

Sources familiar with the investigation say the FBI is looking into possible bribery of employees of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that inspects and regulates mining. The sources say FBI agents are also exploring potential criminal negligence on the part of Massey Energy, the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine.

Massey has been cited repeatedly for violations of federal safety regulations and unsubstantiated rumors have circulated for years that mine inspectors and other officials receive payoffs. The FBI declines comment and neither confirms nor denies that an investigation is ongoing.

In a statement to NPR, Massey Energy says it is not aware of the allegations, and is fully cooperating with any investigations taking place. The Mine Safety and Health Administration has yet to respond to a request for comment.

How can we fail them? How can a nation that relies on its miners not do everything in its power to protect them? How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work; by simply pursuing the American Dream?

- President Barack Obama, 4/25/2010

With those words, President Obama delivered a promise to the surviving families of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion: Your loved ones won't have died for nothing.

And with those words, the Massey Energy board of directors closed their ranks around teabagger Don Blankenship, beginning their own PR campaign to keep the government small, out of their mines, and out of their profit margins.

In a news conference in Charleston, company officials also pointed a finger back at the federal regulators who had repeatedly cited them for safety violations before an explosion killed 29 miners at Upper Big Branch on April 5.

They said that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration had indirectly caused a reduction of fresh air getting to an area deep inside the mine by requiring the company to use a "complicated" ventilation plan that Massey engineers resisted.

Ventilation will be a critical issue in the investigation into the explosion. Experts believe that the blast may have been triggered by a buildup of gases such as methane, or flammable coal dust, inside the mine.

Mine ventilation systems are designed to take toxic or explosive materials out and bring fresh air in for miners to breathe.

The Massey officials, including chief executive Don Blankenship, said they still did not know what triggered the explosion. They released new data showing that, in the minutes before the blast, foremen deep inside the mine had reported finding very low or nonexistent levels of methane.

I'm still struggling to understand the logic they twisted to blame regulations on mine ventilation into a cause for methane buildup. More from their press conference:

On the dispute with federal regulators over regulation, the company said that MSHA inspectors had demanded changes "that made the ventilation in this area significantly more complex." As a result, "the volume of fresh air [getting to the area where coal was being mined] . . . was significantly reduced."

The company said that its engineers resisted making the changes, and even shut down production at the mine for two days, before eventually agreeing.

But when a reporter pressed Suboleski for details about the dispute, he demurred.

"I'm going to get us mired down in things," he said, adding that it would be easier to explain with a map of the mine, and more time. "It did make ventilation more complex . . . in some ways more difficult." (read more...)

And so it begins. There will be spin, counterspin, assaults on the union and assaults on our common sense. Is it any wonder that West Virginians don't place much hope in the idea that safety reforms will actually happen?

Thanks to Shea Gunther over at Mother Nature Network for putting attention on this. It's always so nice to see the good guys win. The Westboro Baptist Church thrives on spreading a nice helping of hate around. They sent their minions to West Virginia to let the families of the 29 dead miners know their loved ones died because we're too tolerant of alternative lifestyles. Their website says there are too many Catholics in West Virginia, another reason for the protest.

Anyway, watch this video. Seriously, watch the whole thing. I especially love the part where the guy from West Virginia starts quoting Bible verses back at them and tells them to "get out". As it rolls on, it's clear the good people of West Virginia have no intention of letting the haters get even a little bit of traction in their state.

But the WBC are an unstable bunch of busy haters. Not only did they head to West Virginia for a harassment fix, but they also deployed to Iowa, where their 6 protesters were met by a group of 500, letting them know that Iowa is a spacious state, but there is no room for haters.

It's so nice to see free speech at work on both sides. While the Phelps family cult depends on indoctrinating children and using them for their evil ends, the good people of Iowa and West Virginia gave their kids an object lesson in meeting evil with good.

A virtual fist bump to Iowa and West Virginia, and true prayers for the families of the mine victims goes to them, from me. Long live the first amendment.

The suffering continues.

YINGXIU, China - Rescuers rushed to reach 24 coal miners trapped underground by China's earthquake almost two weeks ago, officials said Saturday as the government sharply raised the death toll and warned it could exceed 80,000. It was not known if the miners were alive, but authorities were hoping for the best until they learned otherwise, said Wang Dexue, the deputy chief of the government's work safety department.

Premier Wen Jiabao returned to the quake zone on Saturday and hosted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a visit to Yingxiu, one of the hardest-hit towns. Jiabao said China's death toll has passed 60,000 and could rise to 80,000 or more...read on.

Some families testified yesterday in utter despair over their loss of a son and a husband. I've written a lot about the actions of the shady Utah mine owner Bob Murray. This is a heartbreaking look at how these families are dealing with the tragic deaths that happened in part because of the incompetent actions of Bob Murray.

Download | play Download | play

Sheila Phillips - Mother of miner Brandon Phillips:

"It's just hard to have hope, and have your heart broke every day, and have your grandson grow up without a dad…And I'd like to talk a little bit about Mr. Murray -- I didn't go to very many of the meetings because I couldn't stand to listen to the man. He was talking about one day when they were moving the drill holes, and they had the pad ready for one and then they decided to drill it somewhere else, and I asked him why they didn't have two going... and he said 'we could drill you 1,000 holes and it wouldn't make any difference.' (transcripts and Digby below the fold)

Continue reading »

Via The Salt Lake Tribune:

Operators at the Crandall Canyon mine experienced serious structural problems in the mine in March and entirely abandoned work in an area about 900 feet from where six miners remained trapped Saturday.

A memo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune shows that mine owners were trying to work around "poor roof conditions" before halting mining of the northern tunnels in early March after a "large bump occurred . . . resulting in heavy damage" in those tunnels.

A bump or bounce occurs when the intense pressure on the coal pillars supporting the mine causes the pillars to burst, "sending coal and rock flying with explosive force," according to that National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The memo indicates that mine operators knew the tremendous pressures of a mountain bearing down on the mine were creating problems with the roof, and they were searching for a way to safely keep the mine from falling in as they cut away the coal pillars supporting the structure.

"It's dangerous. Damn dangerous I would say," Robert Ferriter, now director of the mine safety program at the Colorado School of Mines and a 27-year veteran of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. "What is MSHA doing in all this? They're the ones who are supposed to catch this sort of thing." Read more...

Mike's Blog Round Up

Confined Space: Five more miners dead. Richard Stickler's name should be withdrawn as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. And it turns out that John Correll, Bush's nominee to head up the Office of Surface Mining at the Dept. Interior, was up to his neck in improper behavior while he was at the MSHA.

Pro and Conrad: The legendary editorial cartoonist, Paul Conrad. Info on a documentary film tribute, cartoon gallery, and more at a beautifully designed site.

Majikthise: Has some recommended reading for ya

Brilliant at Breakfast: Bush to teens saving for college: Go Cheney Yourselves

The Talent Show: The Decline of Western Civilizatio

Update:

Having problems uploading new stories...working on it...