deadly coal mine disaster W.VA.

[LKTraz]

0

This is probably a stupid and insensitive question, but why wouldn't these miners move to an area with better safety practices in their mines. Are these jobs highly territorial and outsiders aren't welcome?

To a degree the territorial part of this is correct. There have been folks who live in southern PA counties that travel to the W.Va. mines to work but coal miners are a breed apart.

The coal mined in W.Va. is bituminous or "soft" coal which is an entirely different type of mining operation than anthracite or "hard" coal. Soft coal miners would have to learn an entirely different mining technique if they were to move from W.Va. to central PA where it's hard coal.

This is also part of the reason that PA miners are paid better.

A different aspect of anthracite mining though is that explosive methane pockets are less common pockets of what miners dub "black damp" are much more prevalent. This is concentrations of methane and sulphur dioxide gasses mixed and are colorless and odorless. One can simply walk in to one of these pockets without warning and suffocate in under a minute. This was the reason that old time miners would have parakeets in the mine with them. They are more susceptible to these gasses at much lower concentrations. If the bird passed out or died it was time to scramble to the surface.