MSHA says explosive coal dust found at W.Va. mine

[Omaha Steve]

Source: (Excite) AP

By TIM HUBER

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - More than 1,400 samples collected inside West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine show excessive amounts of coal dust were present before an explosion killed 29 miners in April, a federal official said Friday.

A majority of the samples came from areas affected by the explosion, but show only that coal dust played a role in the blast, Mine Safety and Health Administration official Kevin Stricklin said during a conference call with reporters.

"It's going to be fair to say that coal dust played a role," Stricklin said. "We just aren't in a position to say how big of a role."

The findings bolster MSHA's preliminary findings issued 10 days after the explosion that a mix of methane and coal dust were responsible for the blast. Federal law requires coal mines to coat coal dust with pulverized stone or other inert material to prevent and contain explosions.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20100917/D9I9RK1O4.html

[Celtic Merlin]

1. What many mine operators will do with coal dust is

they will have a small continuous water spray directed at the source of the dust - a mining bit, for instance. This keeps it out of the air to begin with. What little coal dust that does make it into the air is carried away by a well-functioning ventilation system. Well, that's how it is SUPPOSED to happen. Upper Big Branch has already been accused with not having a well-functioning (and in some areas, even minimally-functioning) ventilation system by alot of the men who survived the explosion.

What alot of people don't know is that ventilation systems in mines don't blow fresh air INTO a mine, they suck the mine atmosphere OUT of the mine and the fresh air to replace that moves into the mine gently and via the mouth of the shaft/tunnel. What the ventilation system is responsible for venting out of the mine is the air which contains potentially-explosive things like coal dust and methane. When you get a buildup of these explosive things, an explosion is virtually assured. Almost all mining equipment is electrically or pneumatically powered. While the compressed air tools are quite safe to use, many of the larger machines and transportation devices (for both coal and miners) are run electrically and these things will arc a little. It's a fact of running an electric motor.

The Upper Big Branch explosion is very likely one which could have been prevented. Most coal mines operate without great big blasts ripping through them which kill innocent miners.

One of the biggest benefits to being a unionized miner (besides fair wages and decent benefits) is that most if not all union contracts specify that any miner may refuse to enter or continue to work in a mine which he feels is unsafe. They may also demand that an MSHA inspector address serious (not minor) safety concerns. With this stipulation in place, operators have ample incentive to run their facilities by the safety rules. Upper Big Branch is NOT a unionized site. I believe that it may have been at one time, but when the current owner reopened the mine after it had been closed for a while, he opened it as a non-union mine.

Now, 29 men are dead and wives have been turned into widows, children are fatherless, and parents have had to bury their sons. For what? For the sake of a few extra dollars into the pocket of an already-rich man.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Iowa]

2. Thanks for that post. This is why I like DU; I learn something new every day.