Archive | Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

Clean up that damn [British Columbia] mine – by Brian Lynch (Juneau Empire – August 17, 2018)

http://juneauempire.com/

Brian Lynch of Petersburg is a commercial fisheries biologist retired after a 30 year career with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and currently works in Petersburg for Rivers Without Borders on transboundary mining issues.

The Tulsequah Chief mine has been polluting the Taku Watershed with acid mine drainage (AMD) for over 60 years now. This pollution is in violation of British Columbia and Canadian laws and mine permits.

The most recent study done by B.C. found “unacceptable risks” from the toxic drainage. Three years ago the B.C. Mines Minister visited Juneau and promised to remedy the problem, yet nothing has been done. So, why is the pollution still happening?

Alaska Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott’s efforts to draw attention to the need for B.C. to promptly and completely close and clean up the mine site have been helpful, but more is needed to get B.C. to move beyond promises and to take action. Continue Reading →

A Town Named Asbestos Once Produced Most of the World’s Asbestos Supply – by Sarah Laskow (Atlas Obscura.com – August 9, 2018)

August 9, 2018 in Asbestos, Canadian Mining History, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Quebec Mining

https://www.atlasobscura.com/

Asbestos mining in Canada stopped only in the past decade.

HIDDEN IN OLD BUILDINGS AND under streets, asbestos—once thought of as a “miracle mineral”—is always lurking. Though today it might seem like a relic of the past, under new rules from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. government could approve new uses of asbestos in consumer products going forward, reports Fast Company.

There are still places where asbestos mining is a notable industry: Canada’s asbestos mines—including the mine at Asbestos, Quebec, once the largest in the world—only closed within the last 10 years, and in Russia, the town of Asbest is still a major center of asbestos production.

Asbestos has many strange properties and has been incorporated into manmade products going back thousands of years. Manufactured, it often comes into human environments as a textile or a dangerous powder, but in nature it appears as six different types of natural silicates. Continue Reading →

For 20 years, miners sickened by toxic aluminum dust couldn’t file compensation claims. Why? – by Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star – July 30, 2018)

July 30, 2018 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://www.thestar.com/

For two decades, a workers’ compensation board policy made it impossible for Ontario miners exposed to aluminum dust to make claims for neurological disorders because the science did not support a connection between the two.

Now, documents obtained through a freedom of information request show the board ordered a review of the topic and created a so-called “negative entitlement” policy after an independent workers’ compensation tribunal ruled in favour of an aluminum-exposed electrical worker’s neurotoxic disability claim.

The board’s ensuing protocol, instituted months later in 1997, closed the door on further claims of the same nature even though existing research was in fact inconclusive. Continue Reading →

A tenth of U.S. veteran coal miners have black lung disease: NIOSH – by Richard Valdmanis (Reuters U.S. – July 19, 2018)

July 23, 2018 in Coal, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, United States Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or more years of experience have black lung disease, the highest rate recorded in roughly two decades, according to a government study released on Thursday that showed cases concentrated heavily in central Appalachia.

The study by researchers from the government’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health marks the most authoritative evidence to date of a resurgence of the incurable respiratory illness caused by coal dust, which plagued miners in the 1970s but was nearly eradicated by the 1990s.

“Although many consider black lung a disease of antiquity, it is undeniable that … these contemporary cases resulted from injurious exposures encountered in the 21st century,” the authors said in the report, published in the American Journal of Public Health. Continue Reading →

Navajo Nation urges expansion of radiation exposure law (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – July 10, 2018)

July 12, 2018 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, United States Mining, Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

https://vancouversun.com/

SHIPROCK, N.M. — From the end of World War II to the mid-1980s, about 30 million ton of uranium ore were extracted from lands belonging to the nation’s largest American Indian reservation. Today, across the Navajo Nation, sit dozens of abandoned uranium mines and the high risk to residents of contamination exposure.

Now, the Navajo Nation is urging the U.S. Congress to expand a federal law that compensates people who were exposed to radiation resulting from nuclear bomb tests stemming from the Cold War.

Currently, the law only covers people who lived downwind from nuclear test sites in Nevada, Arizona and Utah, as well as workers in the uranium mining industry in a dozen states. But the tribe says it’s time for Navajo Nation workers after 1971 to be included. Continue Reading →

Turkish court jails executives over 2014 mine disaster – by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu (Reuters U.S. – July 11, 2018)

July 11, 2018 in Asia Mining, Coal, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://www.reuters.com/

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish court sentenced five mining executives to up to 22 years in jail on Wednesday for their role in the coal mine disaster in May 2014 that killed 301 people, the ruling showed.

The deaths were caused by a fire that swept through the mine in the town of Soma, 480 km (300 miles) south of Istanbul. It was Turkey’s worst industrial disaster and the world’s biggest mining disaster this century.

Critics said the accident, which triggered mass protests, showed the government was too close to industry bosses and was insensitive, after Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time and is now president, said the disaster was part of the profession’s “destiny.” Continue Reading →

U.S. coal industry needs ‘fundamental shift’ to fight black lung: report – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters U.S. – June 28, 2018)

June 29, 2018 in Coal, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, United States Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Coal companies need to make a “fundamental shift” in how they control exposure to coal dust in underground mines to address the recent surge in black lung disease rates, according to a federal report released Thursday.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report found that even though coal operators largely comply with recently tightened rules requiring monitoring for coal dust, those measures may not be sufficient.

“There is an urgent need for monitoring and sampling strategies that enable continued, actual progress to be made toward the elimination of diseases associated with coal mine dust exposure,” said Thure Cerling, a biology professor at the University of Utah who helped write the report. Continue Reading →

1984 Falconbridge tragedy still echoes for Sudbury residents, mining community – by Benjamin Aubé (CBC News Sudbury – June 20, 2018)

June 21, 2018 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Glencore, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Sudbury Basin

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Disaster led to 1986 inquiry into mine ground control and emergency preparedness

June 20, 1984, is a day that still resonates in the minds of many Sudbury residents and throughout the mining community. About 200 workers were on shift at Falconbridge Mine that morning. Four of them never got out.

At 10:12 a.m., a seismic event that registered a 3.5 on the Richter scale struck the mine, causing a major rock fall and trapping many of the miners.

Despite rescue attempts over the next several days, Sulo Korpela, Richard Chenier, Daniel Lavallee and Wayne St. Michel each lost their lives. On Wednesday, an annual service commemorating the 34-year anniversary of the tragedy was held at the Mine Mill 598 Unifor Campground at Lake Richard. Continue Reading →

Remembering the Cape Breton miner – by Sharon Montgomery-Dupe (Cape Breton Post – June 12, 2018)

June 13, 2018 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Coal, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

http://www.capebretonpost.com/

NEW WATERFORD, N.S. — Shelly MacDonald couldn’t find medicine in New Waterford Monday morning but he did find solidarity. “I had to go out for cough drops for my son and first went to Pharmasave and found there and right down the strip all the stores closed,” said MacDonald, the great-grandson of the late Bill Davis.

MacDonald then realized the stores were once again honouring and showing respect for Davis Day. “I thought that was very respectful and it was much appreciated.”

Davis Day was remembered Monday with an ecumenical service at Calvin United Church in New Waterford followed by a service and laying of wreaths at Davis Square on Plummer Avenue that included a performance by the well-known coal miners chorale group, The Men of the Deeps. Continue Reading →

South Africa Union Seeks 12,500 Rand Minimum for Gold Miners – by Paul Burkhardt, Ntando Thukwana and Odwa Mjo (Bloomberg News – June 11, 2018)

June 11, 2018 in Africa Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union plans to demand a 12,500 rand ($950) monthly minimum wage from some of the country’s top gold producers in upcoming negotiations.

The labor group decided on its demands on Sunday at a mass meeting near Carletonville, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Johannesburg. It is the second-largest union at producers including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd., Sibanye Gold Ltd. and Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., according to Minerals Council South Africa, a lobby representing the industry.

“12,500 rand, I think it can put the worker in a better place,” especially considering higher taxes and petrol prices, AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa said in an interview after the meeting. What workers are currently paid “isn’t fair.” Continue Reading →

INSIGHT-US coal lobby fights black-lung tax as disease rates surge – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters Africa -June 1, 2018)

June 4, 2018 in Coal, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, United States Mining

https://af.reuters.com/

PRINCETON, West Virginia, June 1 (Reuters) – As a young man, Barry Shrewsbury dug coal in the West Virginia mines and spent his time off hunting and fishing in the rolling hills. Now, at 62, he struggles to breathe and accomplish basic tasks such as shopping and showering, and relies on a federal fund for ex-miners with black lung disease to pay for an oxygen tank and doctor visits.

“The benefits are a lifeline,” Shrewsbury said between labored breaths after a treatment at the Bluestone Health Center, an industrial-style building set against a leafy landscape in Princeton, West Virginia.

That lifeline is threatened. The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is at risk of insolvency due to soaring debt and a slashing of coal-company contributions through a tax cut scheduled for the end of the year, according to a report the U.S. Government Accountability Office plans to publish soon, two sources briefed on the study told Reuters. Continue Reading →

South Africa miners reach 5 billion rand silicosis settlement with mining companies – by Ed Stoddard and Patricia Aruo (Reuters U.K. – May 3, 2018)

May 4, 2018 in Africa Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://uk.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African gold producers agreed a 5 billion rand (294.39 million pounds) class action settlement on Thursday with law firms representing thousands of miners who contracted the fatal lung diseases silicosis and tuberculosis, officials said on Thursday.

The most far-reaching class action settlement ever reached in South Africa follows a long legal battle by miners to win compensation for illnesses they say they contracted over decades because of negligence in health and safety.

The six companies involved had already set aside the settlement amount in provisions in previous financial statements and it should not affect future earnings, unless the number of claimants who come forward exceed the current provisions. Continue Reading →

South African gold miners agree to landmark silicosis, TB settlement – by Simone Liedtke (MiningWeekly.com – May 3, 2018)

May 3, 2018 in Africa Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Abrahams Kiewitz and Richard Spoor Attorneys, on behalf of thousands of mineworkers, on Thursday reached a class action settlement with the Occupational Lung Disease (OLD) Working Group, which represents various South African gold mining companies.

The settlement, which is the first of its kind in South Africa, will see compensation paid to eligible mineworkers suffering from silicosis and/or tuberculosis (TB).

The settlement agreement is a result of three years of extensive negotiations between the representative attorneys and the OLD Working Group, which represents African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye-Stillwater. Continue Reading →

Environmental groups battle Mount Taylor mine decision(Albuquerque Journal – March 19, 2018)

March 20, 2018 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution and Abandoned Mines, United States Mining, Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

https://www.abqjournal.com/

Associated Press – GRANTS — Environmentalists are seeking to keep an idle uranium mine in western New Mexico from becoming active again, saying the designation will allow it to delay cleanup.

The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment and Amigos Bravos are asking the New Mexico Mining Commission to review a recent decision by state Mining and Minerals Division Director Fernando Martinez to allow the Mount Taylor mine to return to “active,” or operational, status, the Gallup Independent reports.

The groups say there is no realistic likelihood that mining will take place for the foreseeable future. Continue Reading →

South Africa gold miners’ silicosis lawsuit settlement expected within six weeks – by Ed Stoddard (Reuters U.S. – March 11, 2018)

March 12, 2018 in Africa Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Accidents, Deaths, Cave-Ins and Industrial Disease

https://www.reuters.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African gold producers will likely reach a settlement within six weeks in a lawsuit over a fatal lung disease that companies have set aside 5 billion rand ($420 million) in provisions for, a lawyer and industry group said on Sunday.

“I am confident we will finalize the settlement within six weeks,” Richard Spoor, the human rights lawyer who has spearheaded the class action suit over the disease silicosis, which gold miners contract while working underground, told Reuters.

A spokesman for the working group on Occupational Lung Disease (OLD), a group put together by the six companies involved, said it was is“hopeful” the settlement can be reached in that timeframe. Continue Reading →

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