GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

No Survivors in W.Va. Mine Disaster

Workers in West Virginia have found the bodies of four miners who were missing following a mine explosion, raising the death toll to 29 -- the deadliest U.S. mining accident since 1970.

Monday's blast at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal was initially known to have killed 25 people, with two survivors hospitalized. Four people were unaccounted for. Officials and families were clinging to hope that they had made it to one of the mine's rescue chambers, which are stocked with oxygen, food and water.

But Gov. Joe Manchin announced the discovery of the bodies this morning, shortly after meeting with the miners' families, who had been waiting since Monday to learn their fate. He said none of the rescue chambers had been activated.

"The rescue workers told us they're sure no one suffered," Manchin said.

The search for possible survivors was hampered several times by accumulations of explosive gas, including methane. Officials believe a buildup of methane gas may have caused Monday's explosion.

The blast damaged the mine so badly that rescuers did not realize until late Friday that they had walked past the bodies of the four missing miners on the first day of the search without seeing, said Kevin Stricklin, coal administrator for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"There was so much smoke and the conditions were so dire with dust in the air that they apparently bypassed the bodies that were on the ground." he said.

Seven bodies were recovered shortly after the accident. Workers must now remove the remaining 22, through miles of debris inside the mine.

A spokesman for the mine's owner, Massey Energy, says 28 of the victims were company employees, and one was an outside contractor.

Officials say this was the deadliest U.S. coal mining disaster since a 1970 explosion that killed 38 in Hyden, Ky.

Stricklin said MSHA and the state of West Virginia will conduct a joint investigation after the bodies are recovered. Both houses of Congress will also hold their own investigations, and President Obama has demanded answers in a report next week.

Massey has racked up an extensive list of safety violations for the mine. In 2007, the Upper Big Branch mine met criteria to be declared by MSHA to have a "pattern of violations" that could have led to stricter oversight or a possible shutdown. But the mine escaped the stepped-up enforcement after coming up with a plan to fix the most serious problems. Since then. it has received hundreds more violation notices, including several about the buildup of explosive gases.

Problems cited by federal regulators since the start of 2009 include more than 60 evacuation orders for all or parts of the mine, according to a report prepared for Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.