West Va. mine cited 16 times in past year for unsafe conditions

WASHINGTON – Just three weeks before an explosion in a West Virginia mine led to 12 deaths, the mine owner was cited for “combustible conditions” that showed “a high degree of negligence for the health and safety of the miners,” according to inspection reports released Tuesday.

The Sago Mine was cited 16 times in the last year for unsafe conditions that could have caused fires or explosions, documents from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration show. In most of those cases, coal dust and other flammable material had begun caking on the mine floor and walls.

MSHA released inspection records in response to several public information requests since the Jan. 2 accident. The agency has sought $1,221 in fines for the violations, $981 of which has been paid, according to MSHA records.

Charles Snavely, a vice president at the mine’s owner, International Coal Group, said in a statement that most citations “are due to spilled coal in the mine.” Snavely said the company had challenged some of the citations.

The accident is under investigation. The explosion killed one miner and forced 12 others deeper into the mine to wait for rescuers. All but one died after oxygen dwindled and poisonous gases spread.

Inspectors had also cited the mine four times since May for “inadequate” safety checks before miners began their shifts. In a Nov. 8 citation, an MSHA inspector found “obvious conditions” of danger that mine supervisors had not detected.