Who's Fault Is It Anyway?

Whom do we hold accountable?

Is it Mr. Hatfield, President and CEO of ICG, the mining concern that owns the Sago Mine in West Virginia. Is it the regulatory agencies for not ordering the mines production shut down? Or do we just chalk it up to an unmitigated disaster caused by mother nature?

To date we have no idea what went wrong inside that mine on an early Monday morning. Everything released so far is merely conjecture and supposition. It will take some time for the investigators to gather enough information in order to determine the point of origin and possible cause of the explosion. I have heard statements from the reporters on the scene that the explosion may have happened in a shut down part of the mine which was no longer being used and was in fact sealed off.

I was touched by the raw emotion in the voice of Mr. Hatfield as he tried to answer questions from the press at 3:00 this morning. He was visibly shaken and justifiably indignant at those reporters who kept asking in a belligerent manner that he tell them WHO mislead the families earlier in the evening. My hat is off to Mr. Hatfield for a job well done and for holding his ground with the media sharks circling around him.

Those reporters and their asinine questions prompted me to write another post on this particular subject. The sheer hubris of some of the reporters and their questions confounds me. Here is a company and it's employees and families trying to cope with a tragedy of titanic proportions, and these reporters continue to try and find someone to demonize and/or scapegoat for a story. It was not enough news that people had been trapped and all but one had perished, they wanted fresh meat. Despite repeated attempts, even this afternoon, to explain the complexities and personal issues that are involved, some reporters still acted as if the privacy of the families and the companies attempts to get things right did not matter.

In my opinion, and this is an opinion Blog, this showed us glaringly what the problem is with many journalists today. Recent problems with both the credibility of the press and the motivations behind it's power brokers and editors lead me to often times doubt the desire of the modern journalist to actually find or report the truth.

As A father, I am constantly reminding my children that "words mean things." And not only the words themselves but the way in which they are placed together in sentences, paragraphs and documents. The subtle leaving off of a word can make a sentence entirely different. Why the English lesson you ask? Several times just today have I heard sentences in which safety violations were mentioned without qualifying who was in charge of the Mine at the time of the violations. Seems a little important to me from the standpoint of the truth that a person would be very clear in identifying the proper company with which to place blame for multiple regulatory infractions.

ICG did not take possession as owners of the Sago property until late fall 2005. The previous owner was in bankruptcy and it is likely that they had not taken as close a look at the safety of the operation as they should have. In the end, this may or may not have led to the accident that occurred on Monday morning. But until the truth in the form of concrete evidence arrives, perhaps it's best if we don't crucify Mr. Hatfield and his company. After all, they might not have been able to prevent an act of nature in the first place.

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Human Life...Or Scapegoating

While watching a press conference this morning concerning the 13 trapped West Virginia Miners, I was struck by the sheer lack of knowledge of the mining process of those reporters I heard ask questions.

In one instance, after trying as well as possible to "laymanize" the complexities and terminology of the rescue efforts, a reporter asked if the speaker could put it in "plain english." Underground mining by it's very nature is a very dangerous occupation. Accidents can and do happen. Some tragic and fatal, and those that never make the nightly news.

Anyone who has ever been in at a mine site and in one of the tunnels could tell you. Mines are a vast organism of tunnels extending into the depths of the earth. The equipment used to mine the ores are a technological wonder. Violations on something that massica a scale are inevitible. Most are corrected as quickly as possible after they are recognized. And yet, with 13 brave miners trapped, the media seem to be pre-occupied with casting blame on someone. Additionaly, the number of Serious accidents in mines in this country are quite low.

Almost immediately after the public was made aware of the explosion in West Virginia, the media the media started their wailing about possible mine safety violations. This has only intensified as the day wears on. And of course the line has been blurred already, if not completely obliterated with some reporters, abour the company responsible for the majority of the reported violations. Of course ICG, the current owner/operator of the mining concern was not the owner when those violations were assesed. By every account, ICG had made amazing progress rectifying those safety concerns and creating a better and safer working environment for the miners working there.

The focus of course should be on the efforts to rescue the individuals trapped more than two miles in and two-hundred sixty below the surface. It has been repeated over and over that they do not know what may have caused the underground explosion. At present all that is known is that a serious explosion occured and the 13 miners who were bringing the mine back to life were still below.

My heart goes out to those families whose loved ones are lost down in that mine shaft. It is my sincere hope that this tragedy will end on a positive note. I believe that the best and brightest within government and the mining industry are doing there very best to rescue those individuals.

Perhaps those in the journalism profession should take a little more time to learn more specifically about those things on which they are reporting and/or asking questions. Lastly, once the rescue/recovery is complete, we can begin the process to assess the possible causes of the accident and attempt to correct it and prevent it in the future.

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