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Mine cited for litany of safety violations
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010
Massey Energy site written up in March over ventilation
by Steven Mufson, Jerry Markon and Ed O’Keefe
The West Virginia mine where
at least 25 workers died Monday in an explosion was written up more than 50 times last month for safety violations. Twelve of the citations involved problems with ventilating the mine and prevent- ing a buildup of deadly methane. Federal regulators and mem- bers of Congress said they would examine the safety history of Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine south of Charleston, the site of the worst U.S. mining accident in a quarter- century. Meanwhile, rescue ef- forts were set to continue Wednesday to find four missing mineworkers. West Virginia Gov. Joe Man- chin III (D) said crews would drill thousand-foot boreholes to venti- late methane, the highly combus- tible gas that has built up in the mine since the explosion and forced rescue teams to suspend recovery operations. Manchin de- scribed the explosion as “horrif- ic,” and state and federal officials said it would be a “miracle” if any- one survived. Massey Energy says on its Web
site that the company’s safety rec- ord has been better than the in- dustry average for six consecutive years, with its workers losing less time on the job through work-site accidents than its competitors. But in seven of the past eight years, Upper Big Branch miners lost more time on the job through work-site accidents than did oth- er miners nationally, federal rec- ords show. Three miners have died there since 1998, and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration cited Upper Big Branch for 1,342 safety violations from 2005 through Monday, proposing $1.89 million in fines, according to federal records. That record “is a sign that they are not fixing their safety prob- lems,” said Celeste Monforton, a former senior official at the Mine Safety and Health Administra- tion. It is not unusual for a mine to receive a substantial number of citations, she said, but the recent violations involving the mine’s ventilation system “are a red flag.
safety continued on A7
MIKE MUNDEN/REUTERS
Jeanie Sanger, left, is comforted by Michelle McKinney at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia, where 25 workers died.
INFRACTIONS HAVE ADDED UP
Mines are inspected by the federal government at least four times a year.
The Upper Big Branch coal mine, the site of Monday’s explosion, has been cited 1,342 times for safety violations since the beginning of 2005. (Days since the beginning of 2005: 1,922.)
In 25 of those cases, a Labor Department agency proposed fines of $10,000 or more. The mine owner, Massey Energy, has agreed to settle only four; the rest remain under appeal or unpaid.
Eighty-six of the citations have been for failing to follow a mine- ventilation plan to control methane and coal dust. Seven of those citations came last month.
SOURCE: Mine Safety and Health Administration data
IN THE COAL RIVER VALLEY
Even after 25 men die, ‘we still have hope’
by David A. Fahrenthold
montcoal, w.va. — The first
night, they prayed for a big mira- cle. The next day, people in the Coal River Valley were left hoping for a small one — and wondering how many of the dead they knew. By evening, workers were dril- ling through a Swiss-cheese mountainside to reach four min- ers who might still be alive after the nation’s deadliest mine acci- dent in a quarter-century, an ex- plosion that killed at least 25 men here. In the towns below, there was nothing but speculation and waiting — to learn the fate of the four, and the names of the men lying in a temporary morgue at the firehouse in Whitesville,
Court limits FCC clout over Web
Ruling for Comcast is
blow to ‘net neutrality’ and White House goals
by Cecilia Kang
A federal appeals court ruled
Tuesday that the Federal Com- munications Commission lacks the authority to force Internet service providers to keep their networks open to all forms of content, throwing into doubt the agency’s status as watchdog of the Web. The FCC has long sought to im- pose rules requiring Internet providers to offer equal treat- ment to all Web traffic, a concept known as network neutrality. But in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Cir- cuit found that the agency lacked the power to stop cable giant Comcast from slowing traffic to a
popular file-sharing site. Although the Comcast case centered on the issue of network neutrality, the court’s ruling could hamper other initiatives, including the Obama adminis- tration’s ambitious plans to ex- pand high-speed Internet service nationwide and the agency’s en- forcement of new truth-in-adver- tising rules on broadband speeds promised by carriers. Analysts said the decision in
effect removes a government en- forcer that otherwise would pre- vent a company such as Comcast from blocking the Hulu or You- Tube video sites from its net- work, analysts said. “Today’s ruling is destabiliz-
ing, as it could effectively free broadband service providers from FCC regulation over broad- band,” said Rebecca Arbogast, head of research at Stifel Nico- laus. The court’s decision could prompt the FCC or Congress to
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VIRGINIA Site of 2006 Sago Mine accident
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lies. “I’m hoping I’ll have the right words when I need ’em. But right now I don’t have ’em in me. I might just cry with ’em awhile.” The explosion happened about 3 p.m. Monday, as the day shift was ending. The men working closest to the mine’s mouth got out first. As they were getting cleaned up, the ground shook, and the power went out. Then, one miner said, a gust of
dust-filled air blew out of the hole. Then came the people. “They was running, and they were coughing,” said the miner, who declined to give his name. He spoke in the doorway of his mobile home here, his body dis- playing scattered tattoos. The survivors told him that they had
waiting continued on A7
SOME PRIVATE FUNDING
Contract awaits approval from union, council
by Bill Turque
D.C. Schools Chancellor Mi- chelle A. Rhee and the Washing- ton Teachers’ Union have reached tentative agreement on a new contract, ending more than two years of closely watched and of- ten-rancorous negotiations, union and District officials said Tuesday. The proposed pact, which must be ratified by union mem- bers and approved by the D.C. Council, provides teacher salary increases of more than 20 per- cent over five years, with much of it paid for through an unusual ar- rangement with a group of pri- vate foundations that have pledged to donate $64.5 million. The deal gives Rhee some of the tools she said she needed to raise the quality of teaching and learning in schools long ranked among the nation’s worst. But perhaps more importantly it brings her the prospect of peace with the union as Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) heads into an elec- tion-year battle with Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and perhaps another candidate. The negotiations also had been
viewed as a potentially prec- edent-setting showdown be- tween unionized teachers and re- form advocates, who regard them as an impediment to revamping the nation’s schools. It featured two of public education’s strong- est-willed figures, Rhee and Ran- di Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the national parent organization of the Washington union. They relied on the services of former Baltimore mayor Kurt I. Schmoke as a mediator to conclude a deal, but each said Tuesday that both
schools continued on A10
write new rules or laws to more concretely establish the agency as a regulator of Internet ser- vices. The FCC has intentionally kept its authority over broad- band vague, in hopes that looser regulation might spur growth in the market for Internet services. Tighter oversight — which con- sumer groups have urged — would be strongly opposed by companies that operate Internet networks. The FCC’s predicament stems from a 2008 sanction against Comcast for violating the agen- cy’s open Internet guidelines, which were meant to force broadband providers to treat all network traffic equally, so as not to put any Web site at a disadvan- tage. In a 3 to 2 vote, the FCC found that Comcast had improp- erly slowed traffic to the BitTor- rent file-sharing site and urged the company to halt the practice.
fcc continued on A12
McDonnell revives storm over Va.’s Confederate past
Black leaders condemn proclamation he says is aimed at tourism boost
by Anita Kumar and Rosalind S. Helderman
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Starting all over
Introduced by the Redskins on Tuesday, quarterback Donovan McNabb says it feels like being drafted all over again. D8
On the trading block
Even after paying a $21 million bonus, Coach Mike Shanahan is trying to trade unhappy defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. D1
INSIDE
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Not just kid stuff
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The U.S. birthrate for girls 15 to 17 fell by 2 percent from 2007 to 2008, as did the overall rate, and analysts think the troubled economy played a role. A3
STOCKS............................A14 TELEVISION.......................C6 WORLD NEWS .............A8-10
A cardinal rule of Scrabble: If you capitalize it, you can’t play it. But a new version will allow proper nouns, angering purists. C1
BASEBALL
Home, and away
Who’s to blame when Nationals Park draws a big non-Nationals crowd? D1
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Our picks in basketball, swimming, track, wrestling and hockey. Section J
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OPINIONS
David Ignatius: Obama edges closer to a bold plan for Middle East peace, sources say. A17
The Washington Post Year 133, No. 123
CONTENTS© 2010
STYLE
richmond — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a contro- versy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tues- day but that political observers said would strengthen his posi- tion with his conservative base. The two previous Democratic
governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclama- tion honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a
practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen’s successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had in- cluded in his proclamation. McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to pro- mote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th an- niversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not in- clude a reference to slavery be- cause “there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia.” The proclamation was con- demned by the state’s Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP. Former governor L. Douglas
virginia continued on A18
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District, teachers reach a deal
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