{"id":104,"date":"2014-05-07T23:41:40","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T23:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/?p=104"},"modified":"2014-05-08T02:54:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-08T02:54:00","slug":"endangering-miners-cannot-be-a-part-of-war-on-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/?p=104","title":{"rendered":"Endangering Miners Cannot Be a Part of War on Coal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I wrote to explain why MSHA (U.S.\u00a0Government) might have insisted on changing U.B.B\u2019s ventilation plan<\/a>.\u00a0 Here,\u00a0I will attempt to explain MSHA\u2019s\u00a0forced idling of continuous miner scrubbers.<\/p>\n

“Scrubbers”\u00a0were invented to protect miner\u2019s health in the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 They provide multiple advantages for miners.\u00a0 They also:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Prevent dust from getting in miners lungs by removing it permanently from the air.<\/li>\n
  2. Improve visibility for miners<\/li>\n
  3. Lessen\u00a0the chance of an explosion by rapidly removing methane and<\/li>\n
  4. Reduce the amount of dust in a mine\u2019s\u00a0return airways which also reduces the chance of an explosion<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Despite these facts MSHA\u00a0refuses to allow many mines to operate their scrubbers.\u00a0 MSHA provides no explanation for this.<\/p>\n

    In the past any coal operator who did not run his scrubbers would have been subjected to fines and perhaps jail time.\u00a0 Today in many mines it is the opposite, if an operator runs his scrubbers he is subject to jail time.\u00a0 Why has MSHA\u00a0without legislation or supportive research made such a change?\u00a0 Neither\u00a0the laws of man nor the laws of nature have changed.\u00a0 How can forcing such a change be explained?<\/p>\n

    \"Screen<\/a>

    What really happened at the Upper Big Branch mine? What is the Government covering up?<\/p><\/div>\n

    Some miners think its part of the war on coal. They say MSHA thinks that if the mines are allowed to run their scrubbers that MSHA is under pressure to grant the mines extended or longer cuts.\u00a0 The operators believe that extended cuts would be more productive and since the government doesn\u2019t want that they force the operators to idle the scrubbers. If true this makes no sense as MSHA does not have to approve extended cuts whether or not the scrubbers are allowed to run.<\/p>\n

    But there could be another explanation,\u00a0in fact the same explanation that led to their\u00a0changing the UBB ventilation system.\u00a0 Since MSHA’s leaders\u00a0experience is greatly\u00a0in\u00a0Pennsylvania mines with high gas levels that\u00a0ventilate differently than most of\u00a0Central Appalachia’s mines they may have failed\u00a0to recognize the need for high volumes of airflow at UBB.\u00a0 It may follow then\u00a0that since some\u00a0of these same\u00a0Pennsylvania mines\u00a0also\u00a0run without scrubbers\u00a0that MSHA thinks\u00a0that idling scrubbers\u00a0is simply the\u00a0transferring of\u00a0another Pennsylvania mine\u00a0practice\u00a0from there\u00a0to Central Appalachia.\u00a0 Could\u00a0this actually be?\u00a0 It\u00a0seems\u00a0crazy but what\u00a0explanation can there be?\u00a0 Whatever the reason idling scrubbers is\u00a0horribly wrong.<\/p>\n

    In the\u00a0Pittsburgh seam in Pennsylvania the longwall gate development\u00a0sections are ventilated with fans\u00a0and duct work.\u00a0 Therefore they do not need scrubbers.\u00a0 But in\u00a0Central Appalachia idling\u00a0scrubbers\u2019 borders on insanity.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because\u00a0scrubbers can\u00a0remove over 90% of the dust and can reduce methane in the working face by up to\u00a038%.\u00a0 Just like with UBB’s ventilation plan\u00a0MSHA’s actions are\u00a0dangerous to miners.<\/p>\n

    Joe Main,\u00a0the head of MSHA,\u00a0testified to Congress that MSHA does not do ventilation plans.\u00a0 But mine\u00a0operators know that scrubbers are\u00a0a vital part of their ventilation plan.\u00a0 Operators\u00a0would never\u00a0submit a ventilation\u00a0plan that did not\u00a0include\u00a0running their scrubbers but\u00a0MSHA gives them no choice.\u00a0 Only a government bureaucrat can require a mine\u00a0operator to use a specific\u00a0ventilation plan and then testify under oath that\u00a0it\u2019s the operators plan.<\/p>\n

    The scrubber debacle is eerily similar to the UBB ventilation change.\u00a0 Both of\u00a0these changes have been made without\u00a0local input nor\u00a0scientific evaluation.\u00a0 Surely\u00a0we can all\u00a0agree that\u00a0causing\u00a0coal miners to be less safe\u00a0or less healthy is not acceptable.\u00a0 MSHA must\u00a0behave differently if we are to\u00a0keep the politicians promise.\u00a0 ubbneveragain.com<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Recently I wrote to explain why MSHA (U.S.\u00a0Government) might have insisted on changing U.B.B\u2019s ventilation plan.\u00a0 Here,\u00a0I will attempt to explain MSHA\u2019s\u00a0forced idling of continuous miner scrubbers. “Scrubbers”\u00a0were invented to protect miner\u2019s health in the 1970\u2019s.\u00a0 They provide multiple advantages for miners.\u00a0 They also: Prevent dust from getting in miners lungs by removing it permanently from the air. Improve visibility … <\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ubbneveragain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}