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West Virginia coal mine had history of safety violations

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by TC, Apr 7, 2010.

  1. TC

    TC Active Member
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    MONTCOAL, W.Va. -- A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster since 1984, and rescuers on Tuesday began a dangerous and possibly futile attempt to rescue four others still missing.
    Crews were bulldozing an access road so they could drill 1,000 feet into the earth to release gases and make it safe to try to find the missing miners. They were feared dead after the Monday afternoon blast at a mine with a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane.


    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/06/explosion-underground-west-virginia-coal/
     
  2. abcgrad94

    abcgrad94 Active Member

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    This was a horrible accident and many families are suffering as a result. We need to keep them all in our prayers.

    I'm not jumping on the media bandwagon that this is all the company's fault, etc. It's too early to start the blame game.
     
  3. menageriekeeper

    menageriekeeper Active Member

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    I agree.

    Mining is inherently dangerous. A company can minimize risks, but there is no way to make it 100% safe. My FIL was a miner in one of the deepest mines in the US. We knew every time he went down that there was a chance he wouldn't come up again.
     
  4. billwald

    billwald New Member

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    The obvious question: Why do people work in a mine that generates hundreds of safety violations every month?
     
  5. Steven2006

    Steven2006 New Member

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    The obvious answer: For the money.
     
  6. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
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    Do y'all know the old song, "Dark as a Dungeon"?

    Note the line "A man will have lust for the lure of the mines." That seems to be a true statement.

    Listen at:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcc_6YwWbyo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4qVGV0FvVA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No8H5BgWOok
     
    #6 Crabtownboy, Apr 7, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 7, 2010
  7. billwald

    billwald New Member

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    For the money? That might have made sense in the old days when a person in W Virginia had no way of knowing about life west of the Mississippi but not now. How can anyone NOT know there is a better way of living available to anyone who wants to find it.
     
  8. menageriekeeper

    menageriekeeper Active Member

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    Billwald, have you ever lived east of the Mississippi?

    People here have a strong attachment to the land they live on and the communities they live in. Their families have been here for generations. The land my dh will inherit one day has been in the family since the original land grant was signed (by Jefferson Davis I believe). People are raised from infancy to hold on to their land.

    And really, how much better do you think you have it? How high are your taxes? What is your cost of living like? Are you paying a $1000 a month mortgage on a house that would fit in my garage?

    See, you don't necessarily have a better life. Just different. So climb on down off that high horse you are riding.
     
  9. Steven2006

    Steven2006 New Member

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    Of course it is for the money, it's not for the view.

    A person with an average education can probably more money mining than then they could with most other options. People do what they have to do for their families and loved ones, and these men are providing for their families in the best way they know .
     
  10. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
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    It appears the company bears responsibility for the tragety after all.

     
  11. billwald

    billwald New Member

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  12. menageriekeeper

    menageriekeeper Active Member

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    I agree with the author of your link. Mines are safer than in the 1920's (my husband's grandfather lived in a mining town and worked in the mines during the '30s). The union was responsible for a lot of those improvements.

    And Bush relinquished a lot of that progress in the name of big business. It remains to be seen if Obama has the will to fix things as he is too busy forcing healthcare down our throats.

    It wasn't my vote that little Bush elected.

    NY and NJ huh? Well that makes you a Yankee. ;) You still can't understand the hold the land has over people. Heck, I'm hybrid (Yankee dad, Hillbilly mother) and I don't understand it completely even after living 3/4 of my life down here. But it exists and you won't move folk out with a bulldozer. (they'd shoot the driver and take the bulldozer off and dig themselves a pond :eek: )
     
  13. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
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  14. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    One thing I have noticed on CNN is they JUST DON"T GET what being a WVian is...

    When they hear statements like, "We can have all the legislation you want concerning mine rules, but accidents will still happen."... They pity us, and say we are "resigned to our fate, and we have no hope."....

    ARGH!!!!

    NO.. We are the toughest of the tough!.. .WE have hope, but we are realistic..
    YES.. crawl under a mountain and there is a possibility it will fall on you!... That is common sense...

    But don't pity us!.. .We are a determined bunch!
    We don't back down, and we ain't afraid of death!
    (Yes, I said "ain't" because we still speak Elizabethan here!.)

    As a matter of fact, without us hill folk, the US would have lost the Revolutionary war!
    I am proud to be a WVian...
    And Crabby seems to get what it means.. by the song he posted.

    I mean, we have to be tough.. we have survived the Democrat party rule here for over 100 yrs~!... ROFL (But that is changing... especially when outsiders start telling us what we can and can't do)... WE WILL FIGHT!.

    WE ARE MOUNTAINEERS~!
     
  15. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    Let's see, you live in WA.. .YOUR mindset is enough keep us here!
     
  16. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    Don't start jumping to conclusions too fast.. .
    Coal mines are always getting safety violations..

    I'll withhold judgment until we know exactly what happened.
     
  17. sag38

    sag38 Active Member

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    Yes, I would like to know what these safety violations were. Anyone who has had to deal with government regulations knows that you can get gigged for violations that if followed to the "t" might protect an idiot but do nothing but hinder the worker with an average intelligence. Plus, we know that many bed wetters do not like coal mining. They and their hero "Zero" would love nothing more than to see the coal mining industry go broke. And, over regulating them and then vilifying them for breaking those regulations is one way to destroy a needed industry in the United States.
     
  18. abcgrad94

    abcgrad94 Active Member

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    Yep. If they don't grease a machine enough, it's a violation. If they grease it too much, it's another violation. "Safety violations" could mean anything minor or major.

    What CNN and the other news stations won't tell you is that the stinkin' tree huggers are all up in arms about surface mining. In fact, one of the Kennedy's was just here a few weeks ago spouting his unwanted opinion about saving the earth right before he hopped back into his personal jet to go back home. He and his libbie friends care more about the landscape than the lives of the underground miners. Then when the underground miners get hurt, the libbies are the first ones slinging blame everywhere.

    We don't need outsiders coming into our state trying to run (aka ruin) our lives. We can get along just fine without rich, mouthy politicians who know nothing about us.
     
  19. sag38

    sag38 Active Member

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    But abc you need the bed wetters coming to your state. You folks are to dumb to know any better. You should be thankful that a Kennedy stooped low enough to actually fly down and try to protect you.
     
  20. tinytim

    tinytim <img src =/tim2.jpg>

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    "Ma"... (kid running into cabin out of breath)
    "Ma".....

    YOu will never guess what is in the air!!!

    Some sorta bird!!!!"

    Ma grabs shotgun, and runs out side!
    Ma takes aim, and KABOOOM!

    A Small jet crashes in the back 40...

    Kid: "Ma, why did you shoot er down"

    Ma: " Don't need those stupid libbies around here!... I hear once they lay their eggs, they are worse than lice to get rid of!"
     
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