I haven't read RCTN for several days, so I'm jumping in a little late. Also, I'm responding to several posts, but I haven't figured how to quote more than one post, so I'm paraphrasing the rest - I'm *sure* someone will let me know if I get it wrong :-). And finally, this is going to be really long.
I have a BS in Mining Engineering, and I've worked for several years for a large company based in Pittsburgh. Like many mining engineers straight out of college, I was hired as an underground foreman in order to learn the business. After a few years, I decided that production management wasn't challenging enough, so I moved into mine safety, and in 2005 I came full circle back to engineering. I'm now based at a mine in north-central WV that employs about 500 people, close to where the Sago mine disaster ocurred. I rarely go underground anymore, & I kind of miss it.
Let me state unequivocably that I *love* my job, and I chose to move here (away from family) because of it. It's pretty dirty sometimes, but it's the coolest thing in the world to stand in a newly-mined place & know that you're the first living thing that's been there for
250 million years. And the people are the best: the cameraderie that exists among coal miners is very real. At the mine where I was a foreman for so long, I often joked that I had 400 brothers: some were older protective brothers, and some were younger annoying brothers, but we were family nonetheless. There's an even stronger bond between the few women in the industry.
On 1/4 Gillian remarked that $50,000 was a low-middle class income. It may be in her neck of the woods, but that's a pretty decent living hereabouts. And that's the low end of the spectrum - depending on who you work for & what your job is, you can easily make $70,000+. And that's *without* a college degree or specialized skills. For comparison purposes, a colleague checked an online cost of living calculator a few years ago & found he'd have to make $103,000 in DC to equate to his $72,000 here.
On 1/4 Maureen stated "Shut down the mines for God's sake," and Stitcher wrote "Close the mines down says I...What is the coal used for anyway." Um, do you know where your electricity comes from? No, not the wall. Before you advocate getting rid of something, you'd better educate yourself about what it's used for. As someone else pointed out, about 50% of the US's energy comes from coal. And I'm willing to bet that Canada also depends heavily on coal. No mining is not an answer, unless of course those of you who don't know how coal's used are willing to give up all your electric toys.
On 1/5, Jangchub mentioned OHSA standards, and on 1/4, she mentioned "hundreds of safety infractions" against Sago. First of all, the mining industry does not fall under OSHA's jurisdiction. It is such a specialized industry that around 1970 the federal government created the Mine Safety & Health Agency (MSHA) specifically to target mining. The enforcement activity under MSHA is *much* stricter than OSHA, and accounts in part for the high number of violations that you typically see associated with coal mining.
Let me explain: those of you who have dealt with OSHA know that, typically, most businesses can expect one inspection every 2 or 3 years. MSHA inspectors, however, show up almost *every day*, often 2 or 3 inspectors at a time. They can (and do) appear at any time of day or night, weekday or weekend, and they can look at anything they want. Obviously, the more people you have looking, the more you're going to find. Here's a good analogy: let's say that you're a good housekeeper, and after cleaning house, you have 3 people show up, & spend a few hours looking anywhere they want. What's the likelihood that they'll still find some dust you missed *somewhere* - pretty good. What if they show up 5 days a week? On top of that, the dynamic nature of mining means that even the very best mines have violation histories. We don't just stay in one place, we are constantly finishing one area, and moving to another. So now it's like those cleanliness inspectors are showing up at your house while you're in the midst of adding one room on & tearing down another. Sawdust on the carpet? You're busted, and just because you just finished sawing & haven't even had time to vacuum is no excuse.
I'm not saying that there weren't some serious deficiencies at Sago - no one knows at this point. All I'm trying to emphasize is that violation history isn't a good indicator of how dangerous a mine is. There's a world of difference between writing a violation & making the mine a safer place. Overall, I feel much safer underground than I do driving. And, by the way, it's fairly well known in the industry that an inspector who writes lots of violations gets more pats on the back from the boss than one who doesn't. Not that all of them are personally motivated, but it happens.
Jangchub made 2 comments implying that mining safety regs under the Bush administration are more lax. On 1/4 she posted that "with all the restrictions loosed by our illustrious current administation, the protection for safe work place has just about disappeared for these miners" and on 1/6 "...many industrial companies have been given a wave & have been de-regulated..." I think you must be confusing safety with environmental regs. Although many industries lump safety & environmental together, they are two very different things. MSHA has, in fact, tightened many of the existing regs & introduced new ones in the past few years.
And Miryam, thank you for voicing the suggestion that those who think coal's so awful ought to give up their electricity. Most people have
*absolutely* no clue where the raw materials in the products they use every day come from. Bottom line is, you either mine it or you grow it. Period. Next time you pick up a bottle of shampoo, a bag of cat litter, a plastic container, a box of crayons, anything really - ask yourself "What's really in this & where does it come from?" I was appalled a couple of years ago when the CEO of Tiffany's got involved with some anti-gold mining activists. Helllloooo?
A few other comments, then I'll get off my soapbox. The US government maintains a list of minerals that are considered strategically critical to maintain our way of life. Many folks have never heard of most of them, but we'd be in a world of hurt without them. The worst part is that a high percentage of them are imported, and not necessarily from friendly or reliable countries. We could find ourselves in the same bind with, say, vanadium, that we're in with oil.
Finally, there is a serious misconception even today about the nature of coal mining. A lot of people still think we use picks & shovels in
3' high coal seams. The truth is, it's a highly mechanized industry utilizing state-of-the-art equipment. We have comuter terminals underground & high speed internet access. Although there are still a few of what we call "punch mines" like Sago around (punch a hole in the ground & mine a little coal), the most productive mines range from
7' of height up to 15 or 20'. They're not bad at all, just so different that it's impossible to really tell someone what it's like. I tend to think of it as a natural environment, like working out in the woods.
*Really* finally, I want to add that my company sent 8 mine rescue teams to Sago. The team from my mine was the first one in and happened to have the sad job of bringing the bodies out. All of our guys worked as hard as they possibly could to try to stave off disaster, and although I fervently wish the outcome had been different, I'm very proud of all of them.
OK, I think I've run out of thoughts for now.
Jacqueline in Carmichaels, PA, soon to be in Fairmont WV WIPs: Minerva by The Goode Huswife & Max's Moon by Cross My Heart.