Cause of death: neglect
As a former underground coal miner, I read with interest “The cost of mining coal in West Virginia” [Opinion, April 16].
There is no mystery and no question about coal-mine explosions. Coal-mine explosions are caused by one thing and one thing only: neglect — neglect of the ventilation systems, of dust control and of the machinery safety devices.
Coal-mine explosions are prima facie evidence of such neglect and indicate that a country is operating in Third World mode with regard to mining. How many coal-mine explosions have occurred in Britain or Germany or even Poland recently?
Every miner and every supervisor knows this and could tell any journalist if he or she were to be asked. Sometimes the miners are reckless; often human nature urges us to cut corners to get a reputation as a productive worker. Sometimes the company is at fault. As for the ventilation plan, if it is deficient, it will be immediately apparent to everyone involved.
Ultimately, in legal terms, it is the company’s responsibility. No new laws, regulations or emergency apparatuses are required. Simple enforcement of existing laws is the only action necessary.
As for the workers: I understand that the mine involved was nonunion and therefore, it should have been even easier to discipline noncompliance on the workers’ part.
— Patrick Sullivan, Shoreline
Solution: automation
I am surprised that the media are ignorant that the death and injury of miners can be totally eliminated by automation.
Four years ago during the last mining accident, they showed on TV the miners at work underground. As a pioneer of automation in molecular genetics, the question immediately occurred to me why this was not automated.
It is a simple task when compared to the automated assembly in automobile production. I called a friend in Germany to find out what the situation was in the country’s coal mines. His answer was during the last 50 years, there has been no loss of life because of automation.
I also read that the largest coal mine in the world, in China, is completely automated; there is no need for workers below the surface. As always, Americans prefer to treat the symptoms rather than the causes.
— Hans Noll, Seattle