A written description by the federal agency stated, “Mine management failed to immediately correct a hazardous condition identified by a mine examiner on the Evening Shift of February 7, 2006.” It goes on to say that the mine examiner, or fireboss, took immediate steps to inform mine management of the conditions, but the bosses took no action to correct them or to evacuate the mine.

Mining operations continued until the following day, when an MSHA inspection revealed the high methane levels that the fireboss had reported. “The operator displayed a reckless disregard for the safety and health of the miners,” the MSHA report stated.

“The mine should have been evacuated. The question is why it wasn't,” said Wilson Maxwell, a miner at Oak Grove. Coal production resumed two days later.

A recent complaint filed with MSHA by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) alleges that a mine official threatened to fire miners who pointed out safety violations or refused to work in unsafe conditions. MSHA inspectors wrote more than 700 citations at Oak Grove in 2005.

“They don’t try to make it safe for the men,” said Oak Grove miner Glenn Davis. “They do things because the government says. We need to make it safe regardless of what the federal law says.”

The UMWA organizes the Oak Grove mine, along with the five other large underground mines in Alabama. Five of the six take coal from the same very deep seam, which is known for the large amount of methane it releases during mining. In 2001 explosions at the nearby Jim Walter Resources #5 Mine killed 13 miners.

The UMWA, the union district vice president, and two miners have filed a lawsuit against the state for lack of mine inspections. Alabama has three inspectors to cover more than 500 mines, quarries, and gravel pits.

Clay Dennison is a member of UMWA Local 2133 at the Oak Grove mine.
 
 
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