We’ve reported before about two Massey Energy officials who were underground in the hours after the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion. But now, National Public Radio’s Howard Berkes has far more on this story:
Two officials from mine owner Massey Energy were underground unsupervised for four hours after the blast. They traveled nine miles underground and reached the area of the longwall mining machine that is considered a possible source of the explosion. They remained underground even after the Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a so-called “k” order closing the mine to all but official rescuers and authorized activity.
NPR learned about the underground travel of the officials from multiple sources familiar with the investigations of the Upper Big Branch tragedy. Massey Energy confirmed the details in response to questions posed by NPR.
UPDATED: Here’s a link to a Saturday Gazette-Mail story that follows-up on and adds to the NPR reporting.
The full audio isn’t online yet, but here’s part of what NPR is reporting:
It was just after three in the afternoon on April fifth. Inside the Upper Big Branch mine, 29 lives were gone or fading fast. If the explosive force and fire didn’t take them the gasses would. Miners and mine officials outside rushed in to find survivors and they didn’t get far – about three-quarters of a mile – before finding eight men in a shuttle car. Only one was alive. They brought the severely injured survivor and the bodies out. But two company executives went deeper into the mine.
… Rescuers have been killed trying to save people who rushed in to help. In this case, the two executives spent four hours on their own, walking nine miles, according to Massey Energy. They didn’t have the sophisticated breathing apparatus mine rescuers wear, using instead simpler self-rescue devices stashed underground. Chris Blanchard is the president of the subsidiary that operates the mine. Jason Whitehead was the director of underground improvement but is now a Massey vice president.
Tampering with evidence is a concern because Blanchard and Whitehead had been near the longwall mining machine that is believed to be one of three likely sources of the blast. Massey insists they were on a heroic rescue mission in an area where eight bodies were found. But this is also a company with a legacy of safety violations, citations and fines. And there was that incident in February in the mine, reported by NPR, in which safety equipment on a mining machine was disabled. Possible tampering with equipment is already one subject of disaster and criminal investigations…
Massey Energy says in a statement there was no effort whatsoever to tamper with any evidence. The only goal, the company says, was to rescue fellow miners.
UPDATED:
The entire text of the story is online now here, along with a graphic showing the travels of the two Massey officials underground, here.
Massey Energy had this to say about what the two officials were doing:
At the outset, we wish to point out that Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead risked their lives to save fellow coal miners, including one of the injured coal miners who survived the explosion with their assistance. These rescue efforts were their one and only objective.
NPR has posted Massey’s entire statement, along with a Q and A via email between Massey and Howard Berkes, all here.
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Ken,
Thank you for pointing your readers to the Q&A between Massey and Berkes.
I must say that we felt the NPR radio piece was extremely unfair. Much of the factual detail we provided to NPR was left out of what aired on the radio. NPR, in my view, decided to focus instead on speculation and innuendo. I guess it made a better story.
However, the facts are not really in dispute. Investigators have found no evidence of tampering on the longwall. The footprints of Blanchard and Whitehead have been seen by investigators and there has been no question to date about their whereabouts or the fact that they did not go to the tail of the longwall, as NPR suggests.
I invite your readers to read the Q&A and compare it to the supermarket tabloid-style piece aired by Howard Berkes of NPR.
Shane Harvey
Shane,
Thanks for your comment. Always glad to have Massey officials take part in Coal Tattoo …
The NPR report brings up a variety of questions, and in your spirit of openness, perhaps you could post answers to them:
– Did the efforts of Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead fit in with Massey’s Emergency Response Plan, or were their efforts, while heroic, contrary to the written procedures that were supposed to be followed at UBB in such an event?
– Was their use of SCSRs in mine rescue work contrary to the stated purpose (by MSHA and the manufacturers) for those devices? Aren’t SCSRs intended only for use in actually escaping a mine, not in mine rescue work such as they were performing?
– How many other Massey employees were underground between the time of the initial mine evacuation following the explosion and the arrival of MSHA officials and rescue teams on the scene? What were those employees doing and where were they underground?
– Massey’s response to NPR states that Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead were unable to locate any survivors. Did they locate any deceased miners or victims, especially during the time they spent in the area of the longwall section?
In addition, perhaps you could answer the question I previously submitted to your PR agents regarding the timing of the explosion and Massey’s reporting of it to state and local authorities. MSHA believes, based on CO monitoring results, that the explosion occurred at 3:02 p.m. Why was it not reported within 15 minutes of that time? What happened at the mine between 3:02 p.m. and 3:27 p.m. (the time Massey reported the explosion had occurred)?
Thanks again for commenting, Ken.
Ken,
What are you driving at? Unbelievable line of questioning….
Vnxq809
Vnxq809,
I’m not sure what you mean — unbelievable? These are in fact, as I understand it, questions that are very similar to those that the investigation team will probably ask Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead.
These things are all part of the piece of the puzzle of finding out what happened at Upper Big Branch, what didn’t happen, and what the mine safety and mine rescue systems in this country can learn from this terrible disaster.
Ken.
Vnxq809 – what are you driving at? That no one besides those 29 men has the right to know why they died, perhaps? I find that rather unbelievable, as well.
I find those questions to be very reasonable and well-informed, and deserve to be answered. I find Mr. Harvey’s (attack) response to a reporter’s story rather desperate.
I have another question for Mr. Harvey: If these two men walked into that mine as far as you have publicly admitted (taking into consideration their efforts to search for survivors), would they not have seen those fallen miners?
The reason I ask is because there was a systematic and diligent effort by mine rescue people who for DAYS following the explosion risked their lives to locate those missing miners. Did your two guys walk all that way and not see a single fallen miner?
Folks,
I wanted to pass on Shane Harvey’s answer to my questions raised above, and to a couple of other questions I asked of Massey regarding these issues:
- Did the efforts of Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead fit in with Massey’s Emergency Response Plan, or were their efforts, while heroic, contrary to the written procedures that were supposed to be followed at UBB in such an event?
Their efforts were heroic. I don’t have anything to add.
- Was their use of SCSRs in mine rescue work contrary to the stated purpose (by MSHA and the manufacturers) for those devices? Aren’t SCSRs intended only for use in actually escaping a mine, not in mine rescue work such as they were performing?
I think Blanchard and Whitehead made the best of a tough situation. They used the only available equipment that they had to make a rescue effort.
- How many other Massey employees were underground between the time of the initial mine evacuation following the explosion and the arrival of MSHA officials and rescue teams on the scene? What were those employees doing and where were they underground?
Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead were initially assisted by six Massey miners underground in the rescue efforts. All attempted to find survivors. Mr. Blake, one of the survivors, was encountered by Blanchard and Whitehead and others walking on foot, but dazed. He was helped out of the mine by some of the rescuers. Other rescuers, including Blanchard and Whitehead, continued on and encountered the mantrip transporting eight miners from the tailgate 22 continuous miner section. These miners were taken out of the mine by all the remaining rescuers, except for Blanchard and Whitehead. Sadly, only one of these miners, James Woods, survived. After these efforts, Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead, remained underground, and attempted to make it to the longwall refuge chamber.
- Massey’s response to NPR states that Mr. Blanchard and Mr. Whitehead were unable to locate any survivors. Did they locate any deceased miners or victims, especially during the time they spent in the area of the longwall section?
They did locate Mr. Woods and Mr. Blake, as described above. Subsequently, they did locate victims at the longwall who did not survive. They reported the location of the victims to MSHA.
And:
What about the CO alarms that went off at 3:02 p.m.? Weren’t they an indication of a problem? Why wasn’t this reported to MSHA within 15 minutes of those alarms going off?
Communication and power were lost immediately and no one knew what caused this. The presence of CO, to my understanding, is not immediately reportable. Unplanned fires and explosions are, but no one knew for sure that there was a fire or explosion. However, the persons present quickly realized that the elevated CO, the loss of power and the loss of communication were very likely due to a serious problem and they reported it to MSHA – even if they were not required to do so. Jonah Bowles – an experienced safety director at nearby Marfork was called by cell phone and was asked to make the report to MSHA. The Performance safety director was busy assisting on site.
At what time was the determination made that there had been an explosion and when/how was that reported to MSHA or the state?
The determination that there had been an explosion was not made until later. I do not know what time. It was determined by visual observation underground and reported outside. MSHA was already in route (if not already there) and made aware.
I would also be interested in knowing which Massey rescue teams were first on the scene and what time the arrived and what time they actually went underground to begin their rescue efforts.
Our Southern West Virginia team was first on the scene. I believe they were there by 4 pm, but I do not have an exact time.