Essay about Pike River Mining Disaster

In the book, Stern details descriptions of his personal experiences in dealing with the political and legal culture of West Virginia. In the state for years there, the influence of large coal mining corporations is hugely significant to the local culture and communities that that the coal companies have built. The Buffalo Creek Flood occurred on February 26, 1972 after the Pittston Coal Company's coal slurry impoundment dam #3 burst four days after having been declared satisfactory by a federal mine inspector. After the disaster, the company declared the flood an "act of God" caused by rain and flood waters.

From February 7, 1942 to the deaths of 111 miners on March 25, 1947, Centralia Number 5 was a disaster waiting to happen. So many things could have been done that were not. Scanlan's first report on February 7, 1942 was a premonition of the disaster to come. Scanlan as an inspector should have and could have done more to prevent this tragedy. This paper will discuss the four measures that Scanlan could have taken to avoid the catastrophe that resulted in so many deaths.

Imagine drifting slowly on a canoe while fishing one of Minnesota's crystal clear waters on a beautiful, sunny day. Now imagine being interrupted by the loud, ongoing sounds of drilling and being told the fish were too dangerous to eat. This is only one of many potential harms of sulfide mining. PolyMet, a new mining company would like to bring sulfide mining, also known as copper-nickel mining to Minnesota. This would involve the extraction of copper and various other metals from sulfide, hence the name. The sulfide that comes out of this type of mining can have serious consequences on the environment. Events that occurred in the past and facts mentioned in the books titled Taconite Dreams by Jeffrey Manuel and Fractured Land by Lisa

The case study points out some of the deficiencies mentioned by Wilson in his article, specifically how political appointments lead to a weak administrative system and the tendency to corrupt the individual. Also due to the coal industry being so entwined with the state politics, the industry’s need for monetary gain came before the workers’ need for safety. Had there been a clear separation of politics and administration, it is feasible to believe that the incident at the mine could have been

The “Benoni Mine Incident” is a situation that encompasses an episodic case of illegal mining that took place in South Africa. A rescue operation was set in motion in February of 2014 at an abandoned mine shaft near Johannesburg in attempt to rescue a number of illegal mine workers. It was first thought they were trapped due to a rockslide, but was later revealed that a rival crew of illegal miners had trapped them in there. In the beginning reports first suggested that there were 200 trapped and were later estimated to it actually being 30. After several miners were rescued, word had gotten back to the rest of the miners below that they were being arrested and the remaining illegal workers refused to leave

Huntley and Avondale Collieries are existing underground mines in the Illawarra coal fields of New South Wales. Both mines are on care and maintenance at present but with an improved financial outlook, the existing infrastructure and the location of the mines in relation existing coal mining infrastructure, an opportunity to reopen the mines is available. A financial model for the reopening of the mines based on provided economic conditions, historical

|collapsed in the Buffalo Creek Valley. Over 130 million gallons of water and waste material devastated Buffalo Creek's sixteen |

In his book “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free,” Hector Tobar recounts the story of 33 miners who spent 69 days trapped more than 2000 feet underground in the Chile’s San Jose mines following the collapse of the mine in 2010. According to Tobar (2015), the disaster began on a day shift around noon when miners working deep inside the mountain excavating minerals started feeling vibrations. A sudden massive explosion then followed and the passageways of the mines filled with dust clouds. Upon settling of the dust, the men discovered that the source of the explosion was a single stone that had broken off from the rest of the mountain and caused a chain reaction leading to

In addition to long working hours, miners paid for the supplies including open head flame lights and detonators. The miners were more or less like craftsmen using their tools and self-acquired skills to produce the maximum output. Consequently, the explosives led to numerous accidents leaving the miners injured badly and dead in many instances. Numerous workers (about 60 each year) were killed as a result of these explosions. The families of the deceased were rarely compensated. Occupational hazards, deterioration in health overtime, inadequate pay in the form of “strips” resulted in conflicts between the labor and the management.

April 19, 1995, 9:02 a.m: a bomb was set off beneath the Alfred P. Murrah Building. The bomb damaged the structural support beams and the Northern support columns. Half of the building collapsed. 168 people died (Cook 5). Eric McKisick, a district manager, recalls the incident, ¨I made an assumption that, hey, everybody is out, everybody is good, and I left at that point. It wasn't ´till much later that I saw the devastation and understood they didn't respond because they couldn't.” Not only were there a large number of casualties, 300 people were also injured, some of whom were physically impaired for the rest of their life. A child who was in the building at the time of the explosion states, “I have no recollection of that day, but I’m reminded everyday about it because of my breathing problems (Brandes, Heide, Schapiro).”

With so many people mining for gold and trying to find as much as they can, new technology was invented to make the process easier and more efficient. Before this new gold-mining technology, many miners would dam up rivers to make their findings easier and supply water during dry months, or the rivers would become blocked with deposits and sediments, effectively changing the rivers for animals and plants. Along with that, the need for wood and lumber increased so the forest changed with more and more trees cut down to create canals. The land was essentially torn up just in the miner quest for gold. With the invention of hydraulic mining came one of the most disastrous effects on the state’s physical environment. Before workers would only dam up rivers, but with this machine, mountainsides and other areas were torn up,

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)

Pike River Mine tragedy took place on the 19th November, 2010 and resulted in deaths of 29 workers. Many factors led to this tragedy especially poor decisions made by PRCM and Department Of Labour. In this Report, many aspects of the tragedy will be discussed.

I strongly believe that people should be educated about the December, 1907 3,000 coal mining deaths. In 2001 there were 42 coal mining deaths. All these deaths meant wives loosing husbands and sons. These deaths cause the lost of the bread winners in many house-holds; which, would later add to poverty and single parents.

“It is the history of every great warning crisis that the post-mortems have turned up numerous relevant facts or pieces of information which were available but which, for one reason or another, were not considered in making assessments at the time” .