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Doctor: Miner no longer in comaU.S. seeks injunction after company barred union from probe
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (CNN) -- The doctor treating Randy McCloy, the lone survivor of the Sago Mine disaster earlier this month, said Wednesday that McCloy "can no longer be described as being in a coma." The 26-year-old still is not able to speak and remains on a feeding tube, but he is more awake, and can chew and swallow soft foods, said Dr. Larry Roberts of the Byrd Health Sciences Center at West Virginia University in Morgantown. McCloy, who is listed in fair condition, developed a slight fever over the past day, which his medical team is treating, according to a statement from Roberts. McCloy and 12 other miners were trapped underground after an explosion in the Sago Mine, near Tallmansville. The other miners died in the explosion or from carbon monoxide poisoning. McCloy, who was rescued after 41 hours, suffered serious organ damage. (Read about the miscommunication that followed the explosion) Federal investigators are trying to determine what happened in the mine January 2, but the company that owns it doesn't want union representatives with them during the process. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration filed for an injunction against a subsidiary of International Coal Group after representatives of the United Mine Workers of America were turned away while trying to accompany federal investigators into the mine. "We were at the gate and refused entry," said Phil Smith, the union's director of communications. But ICG President Ben Hatfield accused the union Wednesday of "trying to insert itself into the investigation in a self-serving attempt to boost their organizing efforts." The Sago miners who were killed after the explosion were not union workers, but the union has the legal right to assist because the families of at least two of the 13 men asked the union to represent them, MSHA said, adding that federal law is on the union's side. "Some of the Sago miners requested that the United Mine Workers be their representatives for the purposes of this investigation, and they have a right to be there," said Ed Clair, associate solicitor for mine safety and health. The request for a temporary injunction was filed with U.S. District Judge Robert Maxwell of the Northern District of West Virginia. Maxwell has scheduled a hearing on the request for 10 a.m. Thursday. In a written statement, Hatfield said the union's involvement is "wholly inappropriate and disrespectful of the tragic circumstances" and that the MSHA was caving in to political pressure. The company president also said 93 percent of Sago Mine's "active hourly work force" initiated and signed a petition saying they want to be represented by three fellow miners, not by the union. "International Coal Group strongly objects to the transparent attempts by UMWA leadership to use the Sago accident as an opportunity to advance their organizing efforts and rally their political influence," Hatfield said. ICG took over the Sago Mine when it bought bankrupt Anker West Virginia Mining in a deal completed in November. The mine had an injury rate in 2004 that was three times higher than similar mines, though no deaths had been reported there since 1995, MSHA officials said. 
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