Last November, Marty Smith, a crisis responder for the Washington State mental-health system, was beaten to death while attempting to hospitalize a schizophrenic client who had not been taking his medication. Smith was working alone that night, a common practice among mental health and social service workers.

Now Smith's union, SEIU 1199NW, is organizing to pass Marty's Law: Make Our Work Safer. (HB 2921) Marty's Law would provide funding so clinicians can work in pairs when they are sent to evaluate a client in a private residence. The bill also requires clinicians to be provided with cell phones, prompt access to patient records, and training on violence prevention.

Marty's law is part of the Campaign for Quality Mental Health Care. A poll conducted by SEIU followign Marty Smith's death found that Washington state’s mental health system has failed to provide a safe working environment, sufficient training, or enough support to its workers.

• In the last two years, caseloads and the complexity of individual client conditions have increased.
• 75% of community mental health workers report feeling unsafe on the job.
• 78% of community mental health workers have been assaulted either verbally, physically or both; fully 22% report
• being physically assaulted in the last two years.
• 42% of community mental health workers feel they don’t have adequate backup when safety is threatened.
• 44% of community mental health workers feel they don’t have sufficient training to deal with safety issues.

Labels: Social Workers, Workplace Violence

The Wall St. Journal reported last week that the federal government is preparing a civil suit against BP Amoco for the March 23 Texas City explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170.

The case could result in considerable fines for BP, which would include penalties for violating Texas state laws that prohibit unauthorized emissions of harmful chemicals such as benzene, nitrogen oxides and pentene. Numerous chemicals were released during the explosion, though state officials said they found that none of the emissions had reached beyond the refinery site.

Earlier in the investigation into the explosion, staff at the EPA and the Justice Department were discussing a possible fine of $200 million for the explosion, according to a government official familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity. That would be one of the largest fines ever for violations of environmental laws.

***

The charges being considered by the federal government include failure by the company to have an adequate risk-management plan at Texas City, the officials said. The Clean Air Act requires that large facilities prepare these plans to prevent industrial accidents and cope with the aftermath of such events. The Texas City facility is the third largest oil refinery in the U.S.

Much of the evidence for the charges the government is considering, is present in a report on the explosion prepared this fall by BP itself, the government official said. "They pretty well self-disclose there was a problem," said the official. "The issue was they didn't fix it."

Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle reports that the EPA and FBI are also looking into a separate criminal case.

OSHA fined the company $21.3 million last year. OSHA, the US Chemical Safety Board and BP itself determined that combustible liquids overflowed into a "blowdown drum" that then overflowed onto the ground, spreading vapors which exploded. The company had been warned by OSHA in the early 1990's that the process was unsafe and that overflows should be vented to a flair. BP had also recognized the problem, but had not gotten around to fixing it. All of the fatalities were in or near office trailers that had been placed to close to the hazardous process.

The Houston Chronicle reported last month that

Two and a half years before the fatal March 23 explosion at the BP Texas City plant, managers rejected an outside contractor's proposal to attach a flare to the vent stack that overflowed that day, according to e-mail obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

BP didn't pursue the option — which likely would have prevented the blast that claimed 15 lives — because the company hadn't done a federally required safety study on the isomerization unit, the two e-mail messages indicate.

In addition to high fines, the Clean Air Act (CAA) states that a person who “negligently places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” can be sentenced to one year in jail, and a person who who at the time knowingly places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury can serve up to 15 years in jail.

More BP Texas City Explosion Stories here.

Labels: BP, Chemical Safety Board, Criminal Prosecution

Job blackmail is as old as capitalism. Put more regulations on us, force us to make the workplace safer, pay a minimum wage, limit the workday to 8 hours, offer vacations -- and your jobs just might disappear.

The Michigan Senate voted 22-14 along party lines last week to pass a bill that would bar the state from adopting an ergonomics standard, advocated by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration. The standard would require employers to assess their workplaces for factors that may be causing back injuries, sprains, strains and overexertion and other painful, disabling musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

Despite the fact that experts estimate that MSDs cost the economy between $45 and $54 billion every year, business interests claim that the health and safety initiative is a job killer, coming at a particularly bad time in a state where auto makers are announcing tens of thousands of layoffs practically every month. Such tactics worked well to kill ergonomics standards in Washington state and in Washington D.C. Ergonomic injuries lead to more than half of all workers' compensation claims in Michigan.

In a reponse to Granholm's State of the State address, the Michigan Manufacturers Association called for (what else?) more business tax cuts, and...

Our state also needs to oppose any unnecessary regulatory burdens -- like a mandated state-based ergonomics standard -- if we hope to grow jobs. The governor wants to 'continue to slash the red tape that entangles businesses.' A state ergonomics standard would create expensive, unnecessary red tape. Businesses already understand that the health of their workforce is crucially important to their success and do all they can to protect workers.

According to Republican state Representative Rick Jones,

"The mere fact that the state has a committee pondering tighter workplace restrictions is more economic poison."

"We have to realize we're fighting for jobs, and we can't be different from the rest of the country," said Jones, the chief bill sponsor. "People are leaving Michigan to find jobs."

[I love the "we can't be different from the rest of the country" argument: a perfect case for federal regulations.]

Governor Granholm has a more accurate view of the problem.

"They're not moving to Canada for the tax structure," she said of foreign and domestic automakers. "They're not moving to Canada for the wages. They're not moving to Canada because there's less regulation. They're moving there because of health care."

Canada subsidizes much of its citizens' health care costs. The Canadian Auto Workers union estimates the savings amounts to $4 per hour per worker versus the United States.

Granholm said the federal government should work with companies such as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., whose legacy costs for pensions and health care premiums for current and retired workers adds about $1,500 to the price of every vehicle sold.

And the United Auto Workers union thinks that ergonomics standards will be good for the state because automakers are leaders in the field of ergonomics. "It's an asset, a competitive edge," he said. "Why aren't we using it?"

Indeed.

Governor Granholm is expected to veto the legislation.

Labels: Ergonomics

Twenty years ago today, I sat in a hospital room and watched seven American workers die on the job -- televised over and over again -- dozens, if not hundreds of times.

They were the astronauts of the space shuttle Challenger and my wife and I were in a room at George Washington Hospital waiting for my first daughter to be born. Nicole was apparently horrified by the tragedy as well, deciding to delay her appearance into this cruel world for another day. Her protest was rather counterproductive, however, because her birthday headline will forever be emblazoned with news of the previous day's tragedy and the horrific photos of the moment when -- 73 seconds after leaving for work -- Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik; Ronald E. McNair; Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka; Gregory B. Jarvis; and the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, lost their lives.

Time Magazine devoted a full half page to the lives of each of the astronauts, and President Reagan gave one of the more moving speeches of his -- or most other presidencies: "They slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God" -- words far more poetic than have ever been dedicated by any President to any other workplace fatalities, and far more recognition than received by the fifteen to twenty other Americans who died that same day -- and every other day -- in American workplaces.

Labels: Ronald Reagan

Back in September, when Bush nominated Richard Stickler to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, no one (except the United Mineworkers Union) seemed to care much about MSHA or the qualifications of the people in charge. How times have changed. The last thing we need right now is another "Brownie" to do "a hell of a job" with the safety of America's miners.

The confirmation hearing for Stickler and Edwin Foulke as heads of MSHA and OSHA will be held Tuesday morning. Given that the Congress has rarely held any oversight hearings covering OSHA or MSHA in the past five years, the hearing had originally promised to be moderately interesting. Given the events in West Virginia mines over the past month, the hearing looks like it will be much more interesting, particularly Stickler's.

Earlier this week, the United Mineworkers union called on President Bush to withdraw Stickler's nomination. Noting that MSHA is "riddled with former coal company executives," UMW President Cecil Roberts stated that

“America’s coal miners don’t need a coal company executive in charge at MSHA,” Roberts said. “We need a person who understands safety from the miner ’s point of view, and is committed to making the health and safety of the miner the agency’s first priority once again.”

Stickler was a mine industry executive before being appointed to run Pennsylvania's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety in 1997. Prior to running the agency, the mines he managed had injury rates that were double the national average, according to government data assembled by the Mineworkers.

His performance in his new job wasn't much better. Stickler was head of Deep Mine Safety during the 2002 Quecreek mine disaster where nine miners were saved from a flooded mine.

The attorney who represents eight of the trapped miners said he does not support Stickler's appointment because of the secrecy involved in the investigation that followed.

Also, a grand jury in 2003 determined the state agency should have red-flagged mapping problems that were blamed for miners at Quecreek breaching an abandoned mine that released millions of gallons of water. The grand jury did not fault any individuals.

''He's going to have to demonstrate that he's willing to be an advocate for miners' safety,'' said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

Well, hopefully he's at least he's learned not to walk out on the Senators.

More 2006 Mine Disaster Stories

Labels: Richard Stickler

The Alma mine in Logan Country, where two miners were killed last week, lies in the shadow of Blair Mountain, site of the famous battle between miners and company guards over unionization of West Virginia's coal mines.

This week another battle is brewing between the miner's union and the company that owns the Sago mine where 12 workers died -- International Coal Group -- over the union's participation in the investigation of the Sago mine disaster. So far, the union seems to be winning -- with the help of the federal government.

Yesterday, ICG guards blocked UMW representatives from accompanying investigators from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from entering the Sago mine to begin the investigation. Although Sago miners are not represented by the UMW, several families of the dead miners designated the UMW as their representatives. MSHA agreed with the union and sought a court order to force ICG to allow union representatives onto company property to participate in the Sago Mine disaster investigation.

Today, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Maxwell ordered ICG to allow the union representatives to enter the mine.

The battle over the Sago investigation had been brewing for weeks, ever since the company objected to the union sitting in on MSHA's interviews with surviving miners and then claimed that most of the miners had signed a petition requesting that three Sago miners -- and not the union -- be designated as their representatives.

MSHA, however, citing Section 103(f) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which provides that miners' representatives can accompany MSHA investigators "during the physical inspection of any coal or other mine," recognized the UMW as the workers' representative, along with the company's preferred representatives. MSHA noted Section 103 also recognizes situations where there the agency may permit "more than one representative from each party [that] would further aid the inspection."

According to an MSHA press release,

"MSHA is doing everything it legally can to enforce the rights of the miners' representatives to participate in MSHA's underground investigation into the Sago Mine accident," said Ed Clair, a top MSHA lawyer. "Together, the state and MSHA made a commitment to the families that we could conduct a fair, open investigation, and we decided we needed to take this extraordinary step to keep that commitment," Clair said in a prepared statement.

ICG claimed that it was "disappointed" that MSHA was being "guided by political pressures."

Unfortunately, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is trying to insert itself into the investigation in a self-serving attempt to boost their organizing efforts. Yielding to UMWA political influence, the Mine Health & Safety Administration (MSHA) and the West Virginia Office of Miner Health, Safety, & Training (WVOMHST) are trying to force our company to allow the union's participation in the investigation without satisfying the associated regulatory requirements.

UMW reps were incredulous at the company's actions, saying that the investigation was "dissolving into a travesty."

"This is absolutely ridiculous," said Tim Baker, a UMW safety official taking part in the Sago probe.

"This company is spending more time and money and energy trying to keep us out than they have trying to figure out what happened," Baker said. "We all have the same goal in mind, so let's get on with it."

Judge Maxwell agreed, stating that

the UMW has decades of expertise in mine disasters to offer.

"There's no question that the public interest is best served by a complete and thorough investigation into the occurrence of the problems at the Sago Mine," Maxwell said. "There is a strong public interest in allowing miners to play a role in this investigation, as it is their health and safety that is at issue."

MSHA attorney Tim Williams said the teams of investigators would probably need seven to 10 days underground to gather evidence. The company had asked the judge to impose a 10-day limit on the union's involvement, but he refused to do so.

ICG claimed that it was particularly disappointed because 90 Sago miners had signed a petition designating three miners to be their representatives and not the union. The UMW charged ICG with initiating the petition and circumventing the law:

“It is our understanding that this petition was an initiative of ICG management,” Roberts said. “This is yet another frantic attempt by ICG to circumvent the law in this matter and we call on the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the West Virginia Office and Mine Health, Safety and Training to investigate this action by ICG management.

“It is simply astonishing that ICG would go to such lengths to impede the investigation into what happened at Sago,” Roberts said. “I ask again: What are they afraid of?

ICG claims that the effort was undertaken by Sago miners "without the initiation, direction or involvement of company management." But certainly not without interest and approval of company management:

On January 20, MSHA officials were presented with a petition from Sago hourly employees that rejected UMWA representation in favor of having three of their coworkers serve as miner representatives. That petition has now been signed by 90 Sago hourly employees – which represents 93% of the active hourly workforce. Those true Sago miner representatives have been participating in the mine reentry process since it began.

OK, without "initiation, direction or involvement" of the company. Now, how do we imagine this went? You've got 150 miners suddenly out of work, with no good prospects for the forseeable future -- unless the nice benevolent company offers them jobs in other area mines, and then brings them back when Sago reopens. And look over there, out-of-state union thugs causing trouble. Will no one rid me of this meddlesome union? Nod, nod, wink, wink.

Meanwhile, back in Washington DC, the battle over Sago was joined a different level when AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka accused the International Coal Group of misleading potential investors by hiding the deteriorating safety conditions at the Sago Mine.

In a letter, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate and take action against ICG and its founder, New York billionaire Wilbur L. Ross Jr.

Trumka alleged ICG wrongly claimed in its initial public offering for stock purchasers that its operations had a good safety record.

At the same time, Trumka said, federal inspectors were citing the company for hundreds of safety violations, including many that "would cause serious or deadly injury if not corrected.

"These serious risks existed and were known to ICG while they were preparing for and conducting the IPO, yet the company did not disclose them to potential investors," wrote Trumka, a former United Mine Workers president.

"We believe this failure was in violation of the fundamental requirements of the nation's securities laws to provide investors with all material information necessary to make a reasonable investment decision," Trumka wrote in his Monday letter to SEC enforcement director Linda C. Thomsen.

All of this death, destruction and conflict has apparently been too much for Ross and his wife who have been spotted in Palm Beach at various charity affairs, antique shows and parties, and the cute couple was "photographed wearing color-coordinated outfits at a lunch for Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, the countess of Wessex, at Wall Streeter Tom Quick's lush estate."

"It's a tricky business, but they're not going to stop their lives because of it," said Quest [Magazine] editor David Patrick Columbia. "I think it's a very rough time for them.

Yeah, I guess it's rough all over.

More 2006 Mine Disaster Stories

Labels: Coal Mining, Sago

Last month, Kansas City Star reporterMike Casey began his series on the ineffectiveness of OSHA enforcement with the story of 25 year old window washer Les James, who, after less than an hour into his first day on the job, fell to his death. OSHA cited the company, Quality Window Washing, for failing to provide James with a safety line or a guardrail and for not securing the window-washing rig to the roof. The company also was cited for failing to attach the window washers’ lifelines to a secure point on the hospital’s roof, separately from the rig.

Quality Window Cleaning was fined a whopping $2700.

But yesterday, justice was served:

On Tuesday, a Jackson County judge awarded James’ family $7.25 million in a wrongful-death case tried without a jury.

Judge Charles Atwell found Brian Mannschreck, owner of Quality Window Cleaning Inc. of Kansas City, negligent for providing no training, inadequate equipment and unsafe working conditions.

The judge also noted in his ruling that Mannschreck had agreed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to provide training after another of his window washers fell and died in 1996.

Or at least justice was served for the James family. Quality Window Cleaning had also killed an employee in a similar incident in 1996, and another two years after James. Mannschreck blamed both accidents on "employee error" and there were no OSHA penalties in either case.

Justice is fickle.

It's unclear to me how the James family got around Workers Compensation laws which generally prohibit workers or their families from suing their employer. Exceptions have been made in some states where gross negligence has been shown. Now sure what the reasoning was in this case, but given the slim chance that OSHA penalties will ever be high enough to actually deter most employers from endangering their workers, it would clearly be nice to see more of these verdicts.

I listened to part of the Senate mine safety hearing yesterday, starring David Dye, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. After Dye testified, he notified Senator Specter, who was chair the committee, that he had to leave because he had pressing business. Specter launched into a lecture about how the Senators also had pressing business, but that it was important that he stay another hour to answer any further questions that might come up. On the other hand, Specter said, "That's the committee's request, but you're not under subpoena."

I was listening to the hearing on the internet, but having been in Washington a good many years, and having observed a number of oversight hearings, I naturally assumed that Dye had taken the Senator's subtle hint, and kept his butt firmly planted in those uncomfortable chairs.

Turns out he got up, turned around and marched right out of the room.

Interestingly, one of the reasons Dye said he had to head back to the office was to deal with a mine fire that was raging in Colorado. Hmm, sounds urgent. Important things to do. Miners at risk. Can't be wasting time blah blahing with a bunch of fat hot air bags. Urgent. Must leave.

But it turns out, according to the Charleston Gazette, that the urgent mine fire wasn't quite as urgent as Dye made out:

Apparently, Dye was referring to a fire at Arch Coal Inc.’s West Elk Mine. That fire has been burning since November. The mine is temporarily closed, and there were no reports this week of any emergency situations there.

The Senators were not amused at Dye's "I think I hear my mother calling me" dodge. West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd said:

Dye’s departure was a “gross error” and a “very arrogant thing for him to do,” especially after subcommittee chairman Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., specifically asked him not to leave.

“They don’t want to answer questions — that’s why this man left the hearing,” Byrd said. “That’s at the bottom of the problem.

“If this is how MSHA and the other executive agencies that have jurisdiction over mine safety act toward members of Congress, how do they treat coal miners?”

The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus called Dye's departure "a perfect illustration of the Bush administration's attitude toward Congress,"

And this, in a nutshell, is the way this executive branch treats its supposedly equal partner: as an annoying impediment to the real work of government. It provides information to Congress grudgingly, if at all. It handles letters from lawmakers like junk mail, routinely tossing them aside without responding.

It unabashedly evades the need for Senate confirmation of officials by resorting to recess appointments, even for key government posts; see, for example, the recent recess appointments of the top immigration official, the number two person at the Defense Department and half of the Federal Election Commission.

It thinks of congressional oversight as if it were a trip to the dentist, to be undertaken reluctantly and gotten over with as quickly as possible.

Remember, as I've written before, this is the first time since 2001 that the Congress had held an oversight hearing into mine safety. And even after 15 miners die in three weeks, in incidents that, with the appropriate procedures and equipment, may have been survivable, MSHA officials make no secret of the fact that they view informing Congress of their activities as about as valuable as a fat red hemorrhoid.

As Specter said, "I can't recollect it ever happening before. We'll find a way to take appropriate note of it."

Should be interesting.

More 2006 Mine Disaster Stories

There's something very, very wrong here.

I noted that OSHA had fined a Texas construction company the other day, Site Concrete, $117,500 for their "alleged failure to protect employees from cave-in and other safety hazards." The citations included one alleged willful and two alleged repeat violations. The OSHA press release stated that at the time of the inspection, four workers were installing a new valve on the water main inside a seven-foot deep trench. OSHA standard require shoring or sloping of any trench more than 5 feet deep.

OK, not bad, I thought. This is clearly a bad actor:

"Since 1998, this employer has been inspected by OSHA 16 times, resulting in $231,510 in fines and penalties. Exposing employees to unsafe working conditions is unacceptable," said Kathryn Delaney, OSHA area director in Dallas. "Employers must follow safety and health standards to prevent injuries and fatalities, and are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees."

But then, something fluttered way deep inside this aging brain of mine...Site Concrete, where have I heard that name before?

Oh, yeah.

These guys hadn't just been inspected and fined a number of times over the past seven years, they killed a worker just over a year ago in a 15-foot deep trench, a fact that seems to have been left out of the OSHA press release. For that little infraction, the company received a $147,000 penalty (including a willful and repeat citation), which is being appealed at the moment.

I wrote a very angry piece after that last fatality, which I won't repeat here. It's full of anger at OSHA for not having thrown these guys in jail or even bringing a willful citation in the ten previous inspections where trenching violations were found, anger at Site Concrete's attorney who didn't think they had done anything wrong, and anger at the state of Texas for continuing to allow this criminal corporation to receive government contracts. Go read it yourself.

But I'm mostly pissed off right now because just last night I printed a heart-breaking article by the step-daughter of Mike Morrison, a man killed in a preventable trench collapse and I can't help but think that if OSHA had started throwing these assholes in jail everytime they kill someone in a trench, Mike Morrison and many others would be alive today.

Excuse the profanity, but is there any good reason that the owners of Site Concrete aren't in jail tonight? Is there any good reason that any trench collapse should be considered manslaughter or homicide or murder? Can we just see a little bit of the anger over this situation that we're seeing in West Virginia? And maybe a Congressional hearing or two?

Hello? Anyone listening?

Labels: Criminal Prosecution, Trench Hazards

It is ironic -- no, tragic -- that the Bush administration banned and harrassed unions in certain "sensitive" government agencies because unions and homeland security are somehow incompatible, yet it is chemical plant workers -- union workers -- who are best able to help prevent destruction by home-made weapons of mass destruction -- in our chemical plants.

A column in today's Philadelphia Inquirer by Rick Engler, director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC) and WEC President and Teamsters Local 877 member John Pajak, explain the benefits to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's new policy that requires chemical companies using extremely hazardous chemicals to include workers during DEP inspections of their facilities. It's the first policy of its kind in the country and will allow workers to "help identify hazards, including those that might lead to catastrophic chemical incidents, whether from industrial accidents or terrorist acts."

Because of their daily work, training and experience, chemical workers know the risks - and the gaps in addressing them - better than anyone. A 2004 national survey of unions at 125 facilities using high volumes of extremely hazardous materials revealed that few companies involved their hourly workforces or local union leaders in assessing vulnerabilities, incident prevention, or planning for emergencies.

The DEP's worker-involvement policy has national implications because New Jersey is the first state to comply with the federal Clean Air Act mandate stating that "employees and their representatives shall have the same rights to participate in... inspections as provided in the Occupational Safety and Health Act." This little-known language makes it clear that the Environmental Protection Agency, along with states such as New Jersey that have assumed Clean Air Act enforcement responsibilities, must ensure worker/union participation in inspections.

Labels: Chemical Plant Security

Here are some excerpts from television interviews about the recent mine disasters.

CNN PAULA ZAHN NOW 8:00 PM EST, January 23, 2006C

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This West Virginia miner is still trying to come to grips with the tragedy in the Aracoma Mine, the fire that he escaped, but that killed his friends, Don Bragg and Elvis Hatfield.

He has asked us not to reveal his identity out of respect for them and their families. Shortly after 5:30 this last Thursday afternoon, his group of 12 miners learned that a conveyor belt had caught fire. They immediately began their escape. But it was more than two miles to the nearest mine exit.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We started just smelling -- smelling the fire a little bit. And then we started running into some light smoke. And, at that time, nobody had their apparatuses on. We was all just kind of covering our faces and covering our mouths with our jacket.

HUNTINGTON: Were you scared?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Definitely. I faced -- I faced death right now. I really did. I thought -- I didn't think I was coming home to see my family.

HUNTINGTON: But then the smoke turned black and choking, and they had to put on their emergency breathing gear.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We was trying to put the apparatus on. And the smoke was so bad that I was -- myself -- and I can vouch that others around me was gagging, gasping for air, suffocating, and throwing up. I was throwing up. And I know a couple -- couple of my buddies was throwing up as well.

HUNTINGTON: This miner dropped his goggles. And he said others did, too. The smoke was so thick, they couldn't even see their miner lights. Moving single file, with each man holding on to the man in front, they felt their way blindly along a coal shaft for nearly the length of a football field, searching for an escape door they believed would lead to fresh air.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: As we worked our way, you know, to the door, the guy in the back, which was the boss, you know, he assumed that they was 11 miners in front of him. And the guy in the front assumed that 11 miners was behind him. As soon as we got through the door, we realized two was missing.

And we didn't know, couldn't figure out how they got separated from us. And we finally realized we couldn't not find them. So, all of the 10 that made it out got together and...

HUNTINGTON (on camera): At that point, did you know it was Don and Elvis?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: We -- we knew who was missing, yes. We didn't know who was -- we knew exactly when we got through the door who was missing.

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): They yelled back through the door, as a couple of them made two trips back into the smoke to search for Bragg and Hatfield.

(on camera): What was your first feeling when you knew you were nine...

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You...

HUNTINGTON: Or you knew you were 10, not 12?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You get a real sickening feeling to your stomach, just wondering where -- where could they have gone, you know, where they -- where could they be?

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): After 15 frightening minutes of trying to find the other two, the 10 had no choice, but to save themselves and pray.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: You hear a lot of stories about, you know, what -- people say what I would have done and what this one would have done. And, in a situation like that, I can honestly say now there is not much you can do.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): Do you think this could have been prevented?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: This was pure accident. I mean, this -- this -- the only way this could have been prevented is if you would have had five or six guys at that one area when the fire started.

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): But he is upset that there was not a mine rescue team on site familiar with the huge labyrinth of the Aracoma Mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Most of the guys on the mine rescue teams have never been under that hill right there specifically.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): Given what you have been through, will you go back into the mines?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Me personally, I -- I probably won't go back under the hill.

HUNTINGTON (voice-over): But while he was under that hill, he knew he would make every effort to get out.

(on camera): What gave you the determination to keep your head together to get out of there?

UNIDENTIFIED MINER: Probably -- probably my kids. I mean, that's all that -- I mean, I have got, you know, two young kids. And I knew, you know -- that's all that kept going through my head. You know, I have got to I have got to -- I have got to see them, you know, and...

HUNTINGTON: Chris Huntington, CNN, Melville, West Virginia.

And one more from CNN on the profitability of the coal industry.

CNN 1:00 PM EST, January 23, 2006

KYRA PHILLIPS: With the recent coal mine tragedies and talk of boosting safety, we wanted to look at just how profitable coal mining is. Here's the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The biggest U.S. coal producer, Peabody Energy, made a profit of $260 million in the first three quarters of 2005. That put the company on track to double its annual profits from the previous year.

The nation's second largest coal mining company, Arch Coal, also had higher properties, up about 25 percent, to $91 million in the first nine months of 2005.

Coal industry profits can't hold a candle to profits from other industries. Oil, for instance. Exxon Mobil made a record $25 billion profit in 2004. But coal profits and the stock prices of the major producers have risen sharply in the past couple of years.

The trend holds with International Coal Group. In March of last year, it bought the Sago Mine, where 12 miners died this month. ICG had a net income of $29 million for the first nine months of 2005, compared to a heavy loss the previous year.

Analysts expect coal profits to rise further as the cost of natural gas and oil increases. Analysts expect the demand for coal to double in the next 20 years.

More 2006 Mine Disaster Stories

Labels: Coal Mining

One of the more chilling workplace and environmental incidents of last year was the chlorine release in Graniteville, SC that killed nine workers, the train's engineer and eight workers in an adjacent Avondale Mills factory, after a train carrying pressurized chlorine gas crashed into a parked train on Jan. 6, 2005.

In addition to the nine workers killed -- 240 were injured and more than 5,000 residents were forced to flee the poisonous gas that seeped into their homes for days.

That event was over a year ago, but the effects linger, not just in the physical health of the residents, but in the economic and social health of the community.

"It has been one thing after another," said Logan, an inspector for the Douglas Schmidt Law Office, which represents 600 residents and business owners who say the spill harmed their property or their health.

As a result of the corrosive gas, Patricia Courtney's clocks stopped telling time; Melinda Borst's television turned itself on and off; and the organ at Graniteville's First Baptist Church emitted sound erratically.

Many residents fear that this close-knit community will never recover from the train derailment, the deadliest train