Lightning blamed in Sago mine blast

BUCKHANNON, W. Va. -- Two simultaneous lightning bolts probably caused an electrical current in a cable left deep inside the Sago Mine and touched off the methane blast blamed for the deaths of 12 coal miners last year, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said yesterday.

Lightning is one of three "root causes" the agency cites in its long-awaited investigation into the Jan. 2, 2006, explosion.

Lightning had been suspected from the start, but the report for the first time describes its likely path, saying an electrical current traveled through the earth to the buried cable. Previous reports by the state and the mine's owner, International Coal Group, Inc., mentioned lightning but not its route.

Methane levels inside the sealed section of the mine were not monitored, and seals used to close off that inactive section from the mine's working area were not strong enough to withstand the blast, according to the report.

Relatives of two of the Sago victims criticized the report; one said she didn't trust MSHA and its report. The miners' union called MSHA's theory "far-fetched."

The explosion trapped a team of miners deep inside. By the time searchers reached them, about 40 hours later, only one man had survived the carbon monoxide gas.

It was the highest-profile coal mining accident in recent US history and led to sweeping changes in federal and state safety laws.

The company idled the mine in March because of high production costs and low coal prices.

Richard E. Stickler, MSHA chief, and Richard Gates, lead investigator, met yesterday morning with the victims' families and the sole survivor, Randal McCloy Jr., at West Virginia Wesleyan College .

"It's going to make a difference on paper, but it's not going to make a difference to the miners who risk their lives every day trying to support their families," said Pam Campbell, whose brother-in-law died in the mine.

United Mine Workers participated in the state and federal investigations and issued its own report. The union's specialists said the spark that ignited the gas came from friction between the mine's rock roof and the metal support system holding it up.