Sago Families Want Answers
 

Dozens of difficult questions can be asked during this week's public hearing about the tragedy at Sago Mine: Were the workers properly trained? Did a lightning strike cause the blast? How did the false news spread that 12 men were alive?

For the family members of the men who died, there is another -- why it took the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration 11 hours after the January 2 explosion to allow rescue teams to begin the search for the trapped crew.

Four months after the blast, dozens of people were set to testify at the two-day public hearing that's to begin Tuesday at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Victims' family members, Gov. Joe Manchin, lawmakers, mine safety regulators and others are among the dozens of witnesses expected to speak.

"It took hours before they could go in. Hours and hours," said Tim Flint, stepfather of the disaster's only survivor, Randal McCloy Jr. "I agree you have to assess what's going on underground, but come on."

With state and federal investigations underway, it's unclear how many answers the families of the 12 deceased miners will get. John Groves, brother of fallen miner Jerry Groves, said he expects only some. The rest, he said, will likely have to wait for the official investigation report.

International Coal Group Inc. has said it believes a powerful lightning strike somehow triggered the blast. It offers three pieces of evidence: Weather monitors confirmed an unusually large strike near the mine, a U.S. Geologic Survey station confirmed a seismic event at Sago and the mine's own atmospheric alarms sounded.

But state and federal investigators have not determined a cause and will press ICG to explain its conclusion during the second day of the hearing. During private interviews with some 70 people, investigators asked mine employees about equipment and electrical systems that could have carried a charge.

J. Davitt McAteer, a former MSHA chief who is running the state's investigation, will chair the hearings.