"Can you hear me now?" The answer was a resounding "Yes" as mine rescue personnel deep underground were able to communicate with the surface command center as new technology was put to the test April 8 during a mine rescue simulation in West Finley, Pennsylvania at the Harvey Mine, owned by Consol Energy Inc.
In 1968, a powerful explosion rocked an underground West Virginia coal mine, killing 78 miners. While the disaster's cause remains uncertain, the Farmington mine disaster was a flashpoint for reform after years of mining fatalities and injuries and a growing awareness of black lung disease.
Not long after a miner who maintained a dust collector machine at a cement facility in San Bernardino County, California, contacted the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) about safety hazards, he was suspended and then terminated, in April 2014.
Wielding a large rotating steel drum equipped with sharp tungsten carbide teeth, a continuous mining machine scrapes coal from the mine’s seams and drops it onto conveyor belts or into shuttle cars for transport to the surface.
Chester Fike was just in his 30s when he was diagnosed with black lung. As the disease progressed, the West Virginia coal miner was eventually so incapacitated that a simple walk with his family was impossible. In the summer of 2012, four months after a double lung transplant raised hopes for a second chance, Fike lost his fight for life at 60.
A federal grand jury in Charleston, West Virginia indicted former Massey Energy CEO for routinely violating federal mine safety rules at the Upper Big Branch Mine, leading to one of the worst mining disasters in U.S. history.
The eight miners who died in accidents in U.S. mines from July 1 to Sept. 30 are “a harsh reminder of why mines must be vigilant in ensuring effective safety programs and fostering a culture of safety first,” Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. Main said.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has announced the winners of the Nationwide Coal Mine Rescue Skills Championship, hosted by the Mining Technology and Training Center, which took place recently in Prosperity, Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has released the findings of its investigation into an accident in May at Brody Mine No. 1 that killed two miners. The underground coal mine, located in Boone County, West Virginia, is operated by Brody Mining LLC, a subsidiary of Patriot Coal Corp.
Doe Run Co.’s “Maroon Team” from Viburnum, Missouri, won the 2014 National Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Contest held Aug. 4-7 in Lexington, Kentucky. FMC Minerals’ “Red Team” from Green River, Wyoming, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s “WIPP Red Team” from Carlsbad, New Mexico, rounded out the top three.