Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety Provide Mine safety inspections, Miner certifications Safety...

Pennsylvania Bureau of Deep Mine Safety

Provide Mine safety inspections, Miner

certifications Safety Training and Mine Rescue services for miners

within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Commonwealth Locations

• Uniontown – Main Office/Bituminous Rescue Station

• Ebensburg – Bituminous Mine Rescue Station

• Tremont – Anthracite Mine Rescue Station

• Pottsville – Anthracite Main Office

Underground Mine Safety

• Bituminous Coal

• Anthracite Coal

• Industrial Minerals

Accidents in Mining

• All Mining in the U. S. 67 Miners died in 2002

• In Pennsylvania 3 Miners died mining coal in 2002

• In 2003 To this date in Pennsylvania. 0 miners have died

Pennsylvania Mining History

• Anthracite

• Bituminous

• Stone/Clay

How Mining Touches Our Lives

• Mineral Mining – Roads, concrete, decorative stones, soda ash, salt, sulfur

• Coal Mining – Electricity, steel, Home heat, nylon

• Mine Subsidence, Acid Mine Water

• Mine site Reclamation

Mining MethodsUnderground - Surface

• Underground Coal – Room and Pillar and Long wall

• Surface Coal – Remove the overburden, Extract coal by draglines, dozers, shovels, large haul trucks

Pennsylvania Mine Rescue

Quecreek Mine Rescue

July 2002

What Happened?

• Miners cut into an adjacent abandon coal mine.

• 60 Million gallons of water inundated their mine.

• 18 miners were working in the mine when the water rushed in.

• 9 miners made it to the surface• 9 other miners were trapped

By 9:45PM, Water Reported at this Location - 1 Left Miners Cannot get Out and Reportedly Travel Back to Section

The Rescue

• For 78 hours the trapped miners waited for rescuers to free them.

• Drillers drilled a 6 inch borehole in to the area that the miners were in 11 hours after they were trapped.

• The miners tapped on the drill steel to let the rescuers know they were alive.

• A 30 inch bore hole was started about 20 feet from the 6 inch hole to be used as an escape shaft.

Water must be pumped out

• Drill holes are drilled to place pumps into the mine to pump the water out.

• 30,000 gallons per min. was being pumped.

• When water started flowing out of the mine opening things looked bad.

• Many people all across the country responded with help.

The Rescue Bore Hole

• At 10:16 PM on Saturday evening the hole breaks through to the miners.

• All 9 are alive!• Escape capsule is lowered into

the mine. • One by one each miner is

brought to safety.

Thank You

John CoolLarry Stowinsky