Reprot: Sago history of safety violations

Nearly half of the 208 safety citations levied in 2005 against the Sago coal mine, where 12 men died this week, were "serious and substantial."

Federal inspectors found 20 dangerous roof-falls, 14 power wire insulation problems and three cases of inadequate ventilation plans, among the 96 major violations, The Christian Science Monitor reported Thursday.

Sago's "serious and substantial" violations, which rose four-fold in 2005, form a pattern that worries safety experts, the newspaper said. During the last quarter of 2005, federal inspectors at Sago cited or ordered the company to fix 50 safety violations -- 19 of them serious and substantial.

Inspectors also noted lesser violations such as electrical equipment maintenance, accumulations of coal dust, inadequate fresh air ventilation of the coal-face and too few methane monitors.

Joe McGowan, a longtime Buckhannon, W.Va., resident, says he spoke with his friend Junior Hamner, who died in the explosion, just two weeks ago about the dangers.

"He said it's nothing but a walking time bomb," says McGowan. "He told me, 'They're going to kill us all.'"

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