Friday, August 17, 2007

Tragedy In Utah



The rescue mission for 6 trapped coal miners was suspended indefinitely today, as 3 rescue workers were killed in a cave-in as they were trying to reach the trapped miners. They will continue to locate the miners by drilling down from the top of the mountain. So far 3 holes have been drilled to no avail. Seems there was a bit of seismic activity that caused the cave to collapse. This is known as a "mountain burp" and registered 1.6 on the Richter scale. With all the seismic activity and the unstable nature of the mine, a decision was made not to risk any more rescue workers.

Of course, the environmentalists are already spouting off about how dangerous coal mining is and we should be using alternative forms of energy instead of coal. Why does everything have to get political with these people? I understand they have their "save the planet" agenda to push, but we are talking about people who have just lost their lives and families coping with the deaths of loved ones, or the uncertainty of the fates of those still trapped. To these environmentalists, I say that if you hadn't blocked the opening of every proposed nuclear plant in the last 25 years, we would have clean nuclear power and these men wouldn't need to risk their lives mining dirty, polluting, coal. So just shut-up and let the relatives grieve in peace ... there will be plenty of time for spewing your hair-brained ideas later.

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

An American Tragedy

This is an American tragedy and the owners of the mine have done everything possible to rescue the first six miners trapped. This is a nasty job, and it is sad that some members of our society HAVE to do this type of work. Flags at half mast in UTAH until further notice.

Have a fine TEXAS evening.

Paul Champagne said...

tlrb ... no body has to do this kind of job, but the pay is real good and educational requirements are non-existant. Maybe what they are saying is that if you are uneducated and have a family to support, then you end up being a coal miner. That seems to be as condescending as when John Kerry told people to get an education or end up being stuck in Iraq.

Anonymous said...

Paul

Correcto. Regardless of the EMW crowd [EnvironMentalist Wackos], this type of work is not going to go away, at least not for now.

Have a fine TEXAS evening.

snowelf said...

I hate the close mindedness of environmental wackos. Save the Earth and all, but don't bother being considerate to those of us on it.
I know they are not all like that, but some of them...oy....

--snow

Terri@SteelMagnolia said...

Uggghhhh...
this is so sad. :-(

Paul Champagne said...

tlrb ... then again, if the work did go away, we would once again be getting rid of good paying jobs ... and these families may be thrust into poverty. There is never an easy answer.

snow ... the problem with the enviornmentalists is that they just know they are right and there is no reasoning with them. Much like the animal rights Wackos.

terri ... very sad, I am constantly checking the news to see if they have been found but I am constantly disapointed.

Tapline said...

Paul,
I watched a news update on this tragedy. The spokesman spoke to the maountain as a living thing. He stated that it was alive. I guess when you work that close to nature you tend to feel that way. They also had a graph of the seismic activity. It seems they had two minor shakes which showed on the graph within a few hours of each other. Mining,,,not my cup of tea thank you very much....I ramble.....stay well...

The Ogre said...

I can't agree with tlrb in that the mine owners have done everything possible. Maybe to rescue, but if they would have done everything to begin with, there shouldn't have been one to begin with.

And I say YEAH to some good ol' nuclear power!

Anonymous said...

oh that photo looks sooo sad!!
when i visited the States the news show was airing a tragedy of coal miners too...
how very scary!! it is good that our society have nothing to dig.
i pray to their family!

Celestine said...

ryc: i am surprised. i thought we were throwing ideas around. why did you become sarcastic? sorry if i offended you. its always the thought that im chasing more.

Paul Champagne said...

tapline ... I think most people who work outdoors have a respect for nature ... especially if nature can be the determining factor between life and death. During Desert Storm, nature, in the form of a dust strorm hid the movements of the 1st Armored Division as they left their positions and made an end-run around the entrenched Iraqi forces ... a blessing for us, not so good for the Iraqis. And now I ramble.

ogre ... I see quite a difference between this incident and the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia. This mine had passed all its safety inspections, the miners had disaster training about 45 days prior to the collapse and there were stores of food water and air stashed nearby where they were working. In addition the mine owner was present and visible everyday, his very presense gives a sense that he feels that everything will be alright ... at least until today, he is conspicuously absent today, like he has given up hope. As for the nuke plants ... bring them on.

niki ... we have these mining accidents several times a year. When you have men digging 1 to 2 miles under the ground, the slightest mistake can turn tragic. This is a very dangerous job and the only reason people do it is because it pays pretty well. Still, mining is a lot safer than it was 30 years ago. Back then, the average life expectancy of a coal miner was probably 10 years. They would breath in the coal dust and come down with an often fatal disease called "Black Lung Disease".

celestine ... you have not offended anyone. I am a naturally sarcastic individual, but with my comment on meditation, I was trying to be both light-hearted and somewhat insightful. Obviously I failed at both and came off as sarcastic. The point of the comment was that while in a meditative state, some people commune with ancestors that have passed and personal heros, who answer questions, give spiritual guidance and console them.

David said...

I also keep checking for updates...all to no avail. It is really sad. All in favor of nuclear power say aye.

Aye!

Evalinn said...

That´s so sad, we didn´t get this to the news over here...

buffalodick said...

Strip mines are way safer, yet ugly. They cover them when they're done mining the coal and they don't look too bad, as animals can now live there. Alot of that land out there isn't that pretty. Stop having men(human beings!) risking their lives underground for coal!

Paul Champagne said...

david ... the last update I got is that they will probably entomb the 6 miners in the mine and not risk losing any more lives in the rescue effort ... Aye

evalinn ... There is an even worse mine disaster in China right now, but you will probably hear very little about that one ... they are currently trying to rescue 180 trapped miners.

buffalo ... I have seen what they have been able to do with strip mining, once unusable land has been converted to housing and parks. The problem is, most coal mines are in the mountains, the shifting of techtonic plates forces the coal up and it is easier to mine at 1500 feet below the surface than at 10000 feet. So another name for strip mining is "mountain-top removal". I happen to think the most beautiful scenery in the world is of mountains, and I have a little problem with knocking all the mountains down. I much prefer nuke power plants.