Community grieves, but life and mining go on

April 11, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

COMFORT, W.Va.

Time stopped six days ago for the families of 29 coal miners killed in the devastating explosion at Upper Big Branch mine.

As thousands waited, hoping for any word someone might have survived Monday’s blast, life in coal country chugged on, men trudging underground day and night to fill the trucks and trains that haul away coal round-the-clock.

Mining is a way of life here. So is death.

Just miles from where families gathered to wait for news, a peddler of mining gear did brisk business, and tired miners covered in coal dust picked up pizzas at the end of their shifts. In the quiet, humble neighborhoods that hug the Big Coal River, the work never stopped.

“When the World Trade Center was bombed, the world didn’t shut down,” said James Lipford, 38, a miner from Seth who was driving to the V-Mart convenience store early Saturday when he heard the last four bodies had been found deep inside Massey Energy Co.’s mine in Montcoal.

He knew three of those killed and worried all week, but he never thought about quitting. After all, he says, coal-company shareholders still expect profits. Homeowners expect to be able to turn on their lights with electricity generated by coal. His family expects him to bring home a paycheck so they can buy groceries.

“We go with a heavy heart,” he said, “but you have to go.”

It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Ky.

Seven bodies were pulled from Upper Big Branch immediately after Monday’s blast, but dangerous gases forced rescue crews out and it took days for them to get back in. They hoped four miners they had not accounted for might somehow have made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, water and oxygen, but word came early Saturday that all had been found dead.

Crews realized late Friday they had walked past the four bodies that first day but could not see them because the air was so smoky and dusty. The massive blast left the inside of the mine a mess of twisted tracks, boulders and debris. Two other miners were injured, and one remains hospitalized.

Twenty-eight of those killed worked for Virginia-based Massey, and one was a contract worker for the company, which has been under scrutiny since the explosion for a string of safety violations at the mine. CEO Don Blankenship, who was with the families when they learned the miners were dead, has strongly defended the company’s record and disputed accusations from miners that he puts coal profits ahead of safety.

Officials have not said what caused the blast, though they believe high levels of methane gas may have played a role. Massey repeatedly has been cited and fined for problems with the system that vents methane and for allowing combustible dust to build up.

A team of federal investigators will arrive Monday, but for now, the focus is on burying the dead and removing the remaining bodies, a grim process that started Saturday.

A complete list of victims has not been released, but most of the names are public knowledge.

Four funerals took place Friday, with more scheduled for the weekend. Nearly two dozen will follow in the weeks ahead.

At Jarrell’s General Merchandise in Dry Creek, Rock Creek barber Mark Aliff was buying spray paint and nails so he could add to the hundreds of handmade signs supporting the miners that dot yards, porches and fences across the valley. He knew some of the victims, too, young men whose hair he has cut for nearly 25 years.

“I watched them grow into the coal miners they were today,” said Aliff.

Here, mining and logging are the most reliable and lucrative ways to earn a living. Coal mining pays well, and the work is relatively stable, an attractive option for young men not interested in college.