Film Analysis: Vermiculite Ore In Libby Montana

One day a Baltimore man named John Detrick was hiking along Quantico Creek during which near the meeting of the North and South Forks, he noticed something gleaming in the water. It was Pyrite, known commonly as fool’s gold and Iron Sulfide. One of the great ironies of this area was that Pyrite would prove more profitable than the real gold found in the Greenwood Gold Mine. The Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine began operations in 1889. The large number of patents in the mid-nineteenth century and industrial growth after the Civil War made pyrite profitable. Sulfur was a necessary ingredient in several household products such as soap, textiles, paper, and fertilizer. When World War I began, the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine contributed to the production of gunpowder.

In 1907, two miles south of Centralia, Illinois was the Centralia Mine No. 5. The Mine was there to provide coal during World War II. This particular mine employed 250 men and produced 2,000 tons of coal each day. During the next several years there were several complaints made regarding the safety of the mine. On March 25, 1947, the mine exploded, killing 111 miners. (Stillman, 2010)

Hazardous materials can be silent killers, almost every household or workplace contains various harmful substances therefore it is important to have the basic knowledge of these contaminants, where to find them, and what to do if exposed. Asbestos is a natural occurring mineral that is used in a number of different materials. Asbestos is not a concern if left undisturbed; however renovation, reconstruction or demolition can disturb these materials and release asbestos fibers into the air. Asbestos fibers can be inhaled and become trapped in lung tissue which increases the risk for several serious diseases. Asbestos is a well recognized health hazard and is highly regulated.

Reforms were made during industrialization to help improve the poor working conditions present in mines and factories that had been created by the rapidly expanding workforce. Workers often worked in conditions that had detrimental effects on their long term health and had many hazards. Miners were exposed to heavy falling rocks, excessive smoke, poisonous gas and bad air. They often got what is known as miners’ asthma and many died from it (Doc 1). Factory workers worked in cramped, unclean buildings that had many fire hazards and safety issues.

With the amount of steel being produced, people were being exposed to very poor work conditions. The workers would not have any protective gear, only around two layer of long johns. A worker once said that a chain could break, a ladle could fall over and the iron could explode. Iron slag could fall on you and boil your insides. People would work 12 hour shifts, with no breaks and little rest. The boss-man once said that efficiency for the steel plant was their main priority, rather than safety.

The workers showed up knowing that the cotton in the air caused brown lung, but sick or healthy they came to work because they knew that someone else was waiting for their spot. For example, Charles Hardy, “The Guitar-Man”, had his arm pulped by one of the machines in the mill causing him not to be able to play his guitar. Byssinosis (brown lung disease) affected many of the workers in the later years. The disease is caused by the cotton and lint that is floating through the air as they worked. It blocked the worker’s airways and eventually would cause the lungs to fail eventually as it progressed over time. It was a gradual, silent killer of many mill workers. “I had a job, I had to go to it” (page 122). There was always someone healthier, younger, and willing to work for less than the mill worker who did not take their job seriously. Coming in late or even not coming it at all because the worker happened to be sick was not acceptable at all and could result in being fired. Time was

“Blasting itself produced immense quantities of mineral particles. The common practice of returning to the work face soon after the detonation of charges meant entering an area filled with particulate matter. (Derickson 3)” Also, as labors transported, unloaded, and cleaned the extracted material dust was inhaled even though they were away from the mine. So no matter what technique used the coal dust still made it in the air and into the miners’ lungs. There were no safety regulations in place about how long to wait after blowing up coal, no regulations about how many particulates in the air were safe, no mask or safety precautions and no mandatory venting. Although some of these things were easily usable to the safety the company felt it was too costly. “An elaborate system of fans and blowers was ‘too costly’, so the miner had to pay for the bad ventilating by ‘miners’ asthma’ and other ailments caused by bad air. (Derickson 4)” Basically the coal operators did not care enough about the miners safety to provide vents and things that could have helped the air quality.

This mine would expose us to many dangerous metals and minerals that, if not handled correctly could contaminate the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. The minerals that could be found in the formation are mercury, asbestos, arsenates, sulfates, silicate dusts, and many other poisonous or potentially poisonous minerals.

In the video documentary on Libby, Montana, there was a lot of family oriented relationships seen throughout the film. This close knit community was based around the family. We learn a lot about its effects on everyone in the town and associated with the people of the town. It has a major effect on the families in Libby. The video is from November of 2002, and almost every man in Libby worked as either a logger or on the asbestos site. They manufactured the asbestos for usage for insulation, roofing, and soil. The asbestos was found everywhere. The men who worked on these sites didn’t know the effects of the asbestos on not only them, but also

They were kept in small rooms and often did not have ventilation. Not having the ventilation made it so an enormous amount of toxins are released into the small room that they were in. They would also make it really hot with all the toxins. So it made it extremely dangerous for a factory of workers. The machines claimed over 500,000 lives in 1900.

This report presents an evaluation of the Ely copper mines system found in Vermont Alaska. This report is associated with the Ely Copper Mine Superfund site in Vershire, Orange County, The Ely Copper Mine Super¬fund site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Priorities List in 2001. Results of detailed mine-waste investigations show that the mine, which operated intermittently from the early 1800s until 1905,

Two-Tier System of Medical Care (pg. 555) – A system of medical care in which the wealthy receive superior medical care and the poor inferior medical care

(Fig1. The Berkeley pit from above, has turned into a huge toxic lake. http://www.buttectec.org/?page_id=62 )metals were shipped out of the pit while it was active, earning it the nickname “the Richest Hill in the World” (The Pit of Life and Death). However, as time went on the price of copper dropped. The owners of the mining company, the Anaconda Mining Company, switched to mountaintop mining techniques, removing vast quantities of the mountain

It's intriguing to find that asbestos removal occupations are getting a charge out of awesome prevalence since the late part of the twentieth century. In spite of the fact that there are a few drawbacks with these employments, for example, the risk calculate, nobody can overlook the way that it has been helping a huge number of individuals to make their living working in expelling asbestos. Truth be told, these occupations are entirely prevalent as there are some significant wellbeing issue connected with it like pleural emanations, asbestosis, kidney and gastrointestinal issue and so on. Be that as it may, the speedy advancement in the quantity of asbestos commercial enterprises is the significant

Lung disease and accidents have always led to high rates of death or disability amongst miners. The lung diseases that affect miners are called pneumoconiosis or black lung. Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis can be defined as the accumulation of coal dust in the lungs and the tissue’s. “Inhaled coal dust enters the terminal bronchioles, and the carbon pigment is engulfed by alveolar and interstitial macrophages. Phagocytes coal particles are transported by macrophages up the mucociliary elevator and are expelled in the mucus or through the lymphatic system” (Pneumoconiosis in China).