I don't normally do reposts, but there was a major development over the weekend in the Upper Big Branch investigation. Sources close to the investigation say that several required water systems weren't working properly.
Each of these dysfunctional systems funnel water to the longwall mining machine that investigators believe was the source of the deadly explosion. When they're functioning, the systems spray water on the longwall's cutting tool, known as a shearer, and along the coal seam as the shearer cuts into it.
The sprayers help keep coal dust down so it won't clog the lungs of miners or float in the air. When coal dust is floating, it is highly explosive. The sprayers also help cool and extinguish sparks when the shearer cuts into hard rock. The shearer also contains a water-based fire suppression system.
However, last April the shearer's fire suppression system, water-spraying arm and several of the sprayers weren't working properly. The significance? Without adequate water, it doesn't take much for seeping methane to ignite. Throw in floating coal dust and--kaboom!
The malfunctioning sprayers seem to be the most disturbing revelation. Evidence suggests that nails were driven into some of them--a common occurrence, since they sometimes spray miners rather than the coal.
Granted, most of the focus of the Upper Big Branch investigation is still on how poorly ventilated it was. For those who don't remember, the methane levels were so crazy high several days after the explosion that two rescue attempts had to be abandoned. But if there wasn't enough water there, then that may go a long way toward explaining why the explosion was so massive. Indeed, an MSHA spokeswoman says that properly-functioning sprays cut down on the likelihood of methane ignitions.
Mark Moreland and his wife Rachel, whose law firm represents the miners, says NPR's findings are consistent with their own--and is yet more proof this explosion was a criminal act.
"This operation was not operated according to law and was, in fact, if all these circumstances are true, operating in an illegal fashion," Moreland contends.
On Friday, the Moreland and Moreland law firm amended its existing wrongful death suits to include these new revelations and to add members of the Massey board of directors.
Massey responded, as always, that it puts safety first. However, Robert Ferriter, a mine safety expert at Colorado School of Mines, thinks that kind of talk rings pretty hollow.
"It seems like it was all production, production, production," Ferriter says. "And whatever you have to do to keep the shearer running to get the production, do it."
Considering Don Blankenship's internal emails ordering his mines to keep running coal, it sounds like that's exactly what happened. It's yet more proof that Massey Energy needs to be driven out of business by all legal means possible.