Missing wall key to Alma mine accident that killed two

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06082/675154.stm

MELVILLE, W.Va. -- Mine safety officials investigating a fire that killed two men inside the Aracoma Coal Co.'s Alma No. 1 mine believe a crucial section of wall that separates a coal conveyor belt from an air intake was not in place as required at the time of the blaze.

The conveyor belt ignited on the morning of Jan. 19, pouring smoke through the gaps in the wall and into the fresh air passageway that the miners were supposed to use for their escape, obscuring their vision and ultimately leading to the death of two of them.

"It seems like there were some blatant things wrong," said one mine safety official who, along with two others, spoke to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the condition of anonymity. "It's going to turn out that these guys ultimately couldn't escape for that reason -- there were stoppings out that should have been in place."

If they'd been in place, the wall sections would have prevented any exchange of air between the conveyor belt and the fresh air intake, the primary source of air for workers inside the mine. Instead, investigators now believe, smoke flooded into the air intake, which also serves as an escape route, disorienting two of the miners, who became lost and died in the fire.

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According to the MSHA Web site, the Aracoma mine has been cited for 172 violations since the Jan. 19 fire, 115 of them considered "significant and substantial." That compares with 105 violations for all of 2005 and the days leading up to the Jan. 19 fire. Only 54 of those were considered "significant."

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. "Only" 54 considered significant?

Only?