A methane gas explosion ripped through the Sago Mine January 2 from a portion of the mine that had been sealed off with Omega block, made of lightweight fiber material. One miner was killed from the impact of the blast. The other 11 died from carbon monoxide poisoning while waiting for rescue teams, which took 41 hours to reach the trapped workers.

The suit by McCloy names as defendants the International Coal Group (ICG), the conglomerate that owns Sago; Wolf Run Mining Co., an ICG subsidiary that runs the mine; CSE Corp., which makes the oxygen air packs used at the mine; Burrell Mining Products, Inc., which manufactures Omega blocks; GMS Mine Repair and Maintenance, a contracting company that built the Omega block seals that burst with the explosion; and Raleigh Mine and Industrial Supply, Inc., which sold the blocks used for the seals.

The other two suits also name ICG and other related companies as defen dants. “During 2005, the Mine Safety and Health Administration cited the Sago Mine more than 200 times for violations of federal safety regulations,” McCloy’s suit states. “That same year, state regulators issued the mine an additional 144 citations.” It points out that the accident rate at Sago was roughly three times the national average.

Noting that ICG claims a lightning strike caused the explosion, the McCloy suit argues that the owners had not insured proper installation of arrestors to prevent a lightning strike from triggering an underground explosion.

“Regardless of the ignition source, the explosion…was possible only because the seal in that area did not in fact ‘seal’ that area and a deadly combustible mixture of oxygen and methane was present,” the suit says.

“This deadly mixture of methane gas and oxygen pre-existed the lightning strike of January 2, 2006, at or about 6:26 a.m.,” the suit explains. “This deadly mixture of methane gas and oxygen was the direct result of the illegal and unsafe mining practices of the defendant Wolf Run.”

McCloy’s suit says the mine seals made of Omega block were “shoddily constructed.” The Omega block itself “could not reasonably protect coal miners from underground explosions when used to construct mine seals.”

As for the air packs the miners carried, manufactured by CSE, “at least four” of the self-contained rescue devices, designed to provide an hour’s supply of oxygen, failed to function, preventing miners from fleeing the area filled with smoke by the blast.

“As a result of the mass malfunction, Mr. McCloy and the other miners with working rescuers had to share their already limited supply of oxygen with those having none,” the complaint reads.

GMS was providing contract labor at Sago and does so at a number of mines throughout northern Appalachia. GMS employee James Scott testified in the Sago investigation that he had never before built seals using Omega blocks and that his work crew was himself and two inexperienced miners.

In June, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) filed a lawsuit to force the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to periodically inspect oxygen packs and provide emergency training in their use to all coal miners. U.S. District Judge John Bates threw the suit out of court August 23.

In another court decision that day, the Sago mine owners were rebuffed in their demand to know the identities of miners who were being represented by the UMWA in the ongoing investigation of the disaster. Another federal judge ruled that MSHA can keep these names confidential. “We’re glad that the judge upheld the right of these workers to have representation and to do so without fear of being exposed and being intimidated by the company,” UMWA communications director Phil Smith told AP.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Omega block seals continue to exist in mines across Appalachia. Following the Sago disaster, five miners were killed when an explosion ripped through the Darby mine in Kentucky, destroying Omega block seals.

“Every sealed area in every underground coal mine in West Virginia and throughout the United States should be considered a potential time bomb—and treated accordingly,” said J. Davitt McAteer, director of MSHA under the Clinton administration, in a preliminary report on the Sago disaster issued in July. He said the blocks at Sago were “pulverized” and “reduced to the consistency of flour.” McAteer has been appointed by West Virginia governor Joseph Manchin to conduct an investigation at Sago.

According to McAteer, there are 942 Omega block seals in 56 mines in West Virginia. Sixteen of Virginia’s 118 mines use Omega block seals, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. An investigation by Kentucky officials following the Darby explosion revealed 236 Omega block seals used in that state. According to Joseph Sbaffoni, director of Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Mine Safety, there are no permanent Omega seals in Pennsylvania mines. But McAteer estimates that between 40 and 50 such seals exist in that state too.
 
 
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