Coal Mining Research Paper

The coal mining industry allows our society to thrive by providing consistent job opportunities and a stable cash flow for our economy. The fear of coal mining, however, still resides within our society. The devastating deaths that occur during mining disasters are a prominent, but negative, impact of the coal mining industry. The Big Branch coal mining disaster illustrates that technology is good in specified ways and bad in other specified ways because of the economic benefits the industry brings to our society, as well as the physical and emotional risks that impact the workers in times of a disaster.
The Upper Big Branch coal mining explosion is one of the most historically catastrophic disasters in our country. An explosion took place …show more content…
Reports were immediately published after the catastrophe. Relaxed safety standards and a vast amount of safety violations were the reason for the Upper Big Branch mining accident. It was discovered that many of the violations were due to inadequate ventilation. The improper ventilation had a major hindrance in the overall investigation. The interruption was due to the mass amounts of toxic gas trapped inside the coal mine. The investigation of the coal mining accident was prolonged for two months because the investigators could not enter the mine due to the toxic gases. After the reports discussing the safety violations were published, Massey Energy Company argued that there was a lack of evidence to support the idea that the conditions were dangerous. Massey officials also released a statement claiming that the frequent safety checks did not signal any ventilation issues, nor a buildup of methane. However, federal records show a history of disagreements between the energy company and the government about the safety issues. The country speculated widely on what actually caused the disaster. An NPR report published a statement claiming that a possible cause for the disaster involved possible tampering of safety