Word: coaling
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...larger mining operations. U.S. Steel Corp., for example, operates 20 mines and has the industry's best safety record. But the U.M.W. and many MSHA inspectors-believe that only strict enforcement can stop the upsurge in accidents in small mines, where new economics encourage imprudent scavenging. As coal prices quadrupled during the past decade, Appalachian entrepreneurs set up small mines to root out coal from veins too narrow to attract major companies. And while only 15% of the industry's work hours are now spent in mines with fewer than 50 workers, 43% of the deaths occur there...
MSHA has not yet issued its findings on the Mink Branch tragedy, but Commissioner Stanley, a former miner, thinks that the blasting ignited coal dust suspended in the dank, clammy shaft. "We were very surprised by some of the things we saw in there," Stanley says. "The whole situation was very improper...
Inside the Mink Branch mine, far below the muddy clutter of wood siding and decrepit machines at the opening, the Hamiltons were taking coal by "shooting from the solid." This problematic technique consists of detonating tubes of explosives tamped a few feet into a coal seam. (Safer, mechanized extraction techniques would cost at least twice as much...
...morning of the accident, the crew was blasting three adjacent faces at once, compounding the risks further. But the faster the coal can be blasted out, the better for an underfinanced operator, whose urge for greater productivity often leads to recklessness. Although Stanley shut down 31 Kentucky mines for violations after the recent spate of deaths, many small operators still ignore safety standards when blasting underground...
...least eleven states have effectively banned shooting coal from the solid, and such a prohibition by the Federal Government might be the only way to stop the rise in deaths from blasting accidents. Other dangers, from cave-ins to methane explosions, would remain...