Officials at the Viper mine here unveiled new pieces of rescue equipment Monday that they hope will never be used.
The items included small air packs that can be comfortably worn on a miner’s belt, all the way up to a new, 34-foot-long rescue truck for the mine’s two rescue teams.
“Our employees are our number one asset. That’s the thing we want to take care of,” said Robert Gardiner, president and general manager of ICG Illinois, LLC Viper Mine.
Illinois has gone four years without a mining fatality, but 2006 was not a good year for the U.S. mining industry overall. Forty-seven U.S. miners died last year, the highest toll since 1995. Of the 47 deaths, 12 occurred at the Sago mine in West Virginia.
International Coal Group also owns the Sago mine, and the Viper mine’s rescue team went to West Virginia to help in the rescue.
Since the Sago tragedy, the Viper mine has started a second rescue team. If the team should ever be needed at another location, the rescue truck also would be sent. Equipment on it includes the air packs the rescuers wear while underground plus medical and communication equipment.
“This truck has all of the supplies and materials for a mine rescue,” said Dale Harper, manager of human resources and public affairs for the Viper mine. “(Also), if any community event occurred where they needed medical supplies or communication systems, we can respond to that as well.”
The truck will be housed at a Viper facility in Elkhart, which is being renovated as a training center for the rescue teams.
The new truck also can be used to maintain the rescue team’s air packs. Unlike firefighters, who breathe straight from cans of compressed air, the mine rescue team members wear 45-pound devices on their backs that scrub the air they exhale and then mixes it with fresh oxygen.
The packs are good for about four hours. By comparison, the compressed air bottles used by firefighters last 30 minutes or one hour, depending on the type of bottle.
Some of the equipment unveiled Monday is designed to be used by the miners themselves. About a month ago, the mine began issuing small air packs that a miner can wear on his or her belt. They are good for about 10 minutes and replace an older system that only filtered exhaled air.
If an emergency were to occur, miners could use the 10-minute apparatus to get to the closest supply of emergency oxygen kits. The kits, known as self-contained self-rescuers, last about an hour and are scattered in strategic spots throughout the mine.
Another new piece of equipment - an airtight emergency shelter - is set to arrive next month. The new shelters inflate like a life raft, and the largest can hold up to 35 miners for 96 hours.
“If fewer people go in there, you can turn it down and it will last longer. It’s a place to go while you wait for rescue,” Gardiner said.
Viper has ordered two of the 35-miner chambers and four 30-miner chambers. All are expected to be delivered by the end of the summer.
The Viper mine has been in operation for about 25 years. The shafts are about 300 feet underground, and the mine employs about 255 people on three shifts. At any given time, about 60 miners are underground.
Source : www.sj-r.com
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