Mine Operator Ignored Gas Warnings, Survivors Say

Relatives of 13 men who died in underground coal mine explosions accused a coal company Wednesday of ignoring repeated warnings that a fiery disaster was in the making.

For a month, workers at Blue Creek No. 5 told Jim Walter Resources Inc. that the mine had dangerously high levels of volatile methane gas, said Mike Boyd, a miner whose brother, Clarence “Bit” Boyd, died in the Sunday blast.

Rather than shutting down production when concentrations reached dangerous levels, as government rules mandate, the company kept miners working, said Boyd, a state-certified fire safety specialist who works at the mine using vacuum hoses to remove gas.

During a meeting between the company and union leaders last month, “I told them they were operating on a shoe thread and they were going to get someone blown up down there,” Boyd said.

The sister of another victim, Gaston “Junior” Adams Jr., said her brother reported a problem with gas levels in the mine about three weeks ago.

“Junior told his daughter he thought something was going to happen,” said Jackie Carroll.

Company spokesman Kyle Parks did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment. Jim Walter Resources previously said such complaints should be addressed by a government investigation into the explosion, the nation’s deadliest mining accident since 1984.

The probe, which the Mine Safety and Health Administration hopes to complete within six weeks, could result in civil fines or criminal charges if wrongdoing is uncovered, according to Rodney Brown, a spokesman for the agency.

Methane, which is highly combustible in certain concentrations, was blamed for the explosions that ripped through the Blue Creek mine after a section of roof collapsed Sunday.

Falling rock caused a spark that ignited methane, the company said. Executives said 10 miners rushed to the scene to help three injured co-workers when a second, larger explosion killed them all.

While one of the victims was brought out and died at a hospital, the bodies of 12 miners remained trapped underground because fires and gases made recovery too dangerous. Three miners were hurt, but their injuries were not life-threatening.

The company is flooding the mine with 35 million gallons of water to extinguish the blazes and make retrieval possible, the miners’ union said.

The company has acknowledged that a pocket of methane burned in the mine last week. But miners said several such incidents, called “ignitions,” occurred in recent weeks.

A former mine supervisor said the company ignored workers’ fears about gas levels even before he retired in 1989.

“Back then I was told not to pay attention to methane levels,” said Jim Layne, who visited the miners’ union hall to pay condolences.

The international president of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil Roberts, met with victims’ families Wednesday. Speaking to reporters afterward, he said Blue Creek No. 5 is notorious for having high levels of methane because of geological conditions in the area.

The blast was not inevitable, Roberts said, but it is too early to say whether it was preventable.

“I’ve always been concerned about these mines, and I’ve talked to a number of people about it,” Roberts said.

Located about 40 miles southwest of Birmingham, Blue Creek No. 5 is the nation’s deepest vertical shaft coal mine with a depth of 2,140 feet.

For now, the union’s priority is retrieving 12 bodies that remain inside the mine, Roberts said. “That is also the families’ top priority,” he said.

The union planned a memorial service for victims of the blast to be held tonight at the Brookwood High School football stadium.