Shining a Light on a Dangerous Method of Mining
Imagine it. You are working underground. The only thing holding up the rock above your head is a pillar of coal. Then, to squeeze out a little extra profit, your bosses tell you to take out that pillar as you leave, collapsing the earth behind you.
That's the method known as retreat mining. And it could be the culprit in a collapse that trapped six miners underground on Monday in Huntington, Utah. As we wait to see if they can be rescued, there are renewed questions about the safety of the technique.
The Associated Press quotes a former mine safety official who calls it "the most dangerous type of mining there is." Each pillar has to be removed in a precise sequence to control the collapse. But it's almost impossible to catch rule violations because any evidence is buried under tons of rocks.
Still, mine officials say that it's been done for 70 years and has an acceptable safety record. In Kentucky, after four miners were killed while retreat mining, the state commissioned an independent study of the practice. The study concluded that it could be done properly with better planning and communication.
For a diagram and pictures of retreat mining, check out the United Mine Workers site on the practice. The Department of Labor lists all the safety rules for the technique and notes that most collapses happen during August.
- Robert Smith
10:54 AM ET | 08- 7-2007 | permalink
