Alabama mine's safety questioned

BROOKWOOD, Ala. -- The co-workers and families of victims caught in two deep coal mine explosions want to know why the mine wasn't made safer after several dangerous incidents that preceded the weekend blast that killed 13.

United Mine Workers International President Cecil Roberts was meeting with the families at the union hall on Wednesday morning, delaying a news conference.

Some miners said rising levels of volatile methane gas had been ignored by officials at Jim Walter Resources Inc., the mine operator. The explosions have been blamed on methane igniting after a cave-in.

"They wouldn't listen. They didn't do anything," said Shirley Hyche, a miner for 20 years at the Blue Creek No. 5 mine, where the accident occurred. Other miners nodded in agreement.

A death toll of 13 from Sunday's explosions was confirmed, making it the deadliest mining accident in the United States since 1984.

Hyche said there had been three recent "ignitions" in the mine, in which methane gas quickly flared and went out.

Kyle Parks, a spokesman for Walter Industries, parent company of the mine operator, said the company won't comment until the investigation is complete.

Blue Creek No. 5 Mine reported 9.97 accidents with serious, nonfatal injuries for every 200,000 hours worked last year, according to statistics from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. That was 20 percent more than the national rate of 8.3 accidents with such injuries.

George Richmond, chief operating officer of Jim Walter Resources, has said that the mine, like others in the area, is more hazardous than most mines because of its depth and the high level of methane.

With operations 2,140 feet underground, it is described by the company as the nation's deepest vertical shaft mine.

Sunday's accident was the nation's deadliest in a mine since Dec. 19, 1984, when a faulty air compressor started a fire that killed 27 coal miners near Orangeville, Utah.

The Alabama mine, about 40 miles west of Birmingham, had at least five accidents last year in which roofs collapsed or rocks fell on workers.