Posted on 01/29/2006 5:53:22 PM PST by wjersey
ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan
Fire broke out Sunday in a mine in central Canada, a mine official said, forcing some 70 miners trapped underground to retreat to emergency rooms with oxygen and supplies.
Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Company, the Minneapolis- based firm that operates the potash mine, said the fire broke out Sunday morning nearly a mile underground in the province of Saskatchewan.
The miners reported smoke and then headed for safe refuge rooms where they waited for firefighters to put out the blaze and for air quality in the mine to improve.
"In those refuge stations, they can seal themselves off and there's oxygen, food and water," Hamilton told CBC Radio. "And they can stay in there for at least 36 hours."
Hamilton said company officials had not been able to establish a radio link with 30 of the miners.
He said rescue crews were standing by until the fire could be put out. It was not immediately known what caused the fire.
Potash is a pinkish-grey mineral is used in the production of agricultural fertilizer.
Clearly their survival was due to greater Canadian regulation of the mining industry and the fact that the regulators were Liberal Party members who had nothing but the best interest of miners at heart over those of the evil managers of the mine. Had Bush been in charge they would all be dead./sarc
Had Bush been in charge they would all be dead./sarc
Surely the fire was Bush's fault. Don't you think?
Man your fast!
Potash doesn't burn, Coal does. Big difference.
Man your fast
Well, I heard the Potash was being mined for the US market.
Its not too hard to leap to a Bush cabal.
It appears dangerous mines is this year's hot topic issue.
Yep, Those evironmental Canadians ship everything to the U.S. Just like 100% of Toronto's trash and all of Canada's toxic sludge to Wayne County, Michigan.
They do? Ship us their trash and sludge? hahaha.
At $53 a ton .
They used to make it by burning the scrap wood that covered the now open farm fields. The white ash was gathered up and sold.
Saskatchewan miners brought to surface after fire
Updated Mon. Jan. 30 2006 6:58 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
It's turning out to be a happy ending for 70 miners who spent 24 hours trapped deep underground following a fire in a Saskatchewan potash mine.
At least half of the miners have now been brought to the surface, Marshall Hamilton, spokesman for mine owner Mosaic Company, told CTV Newsnet early Monday. The rest of the workers are still in the process of being brought up.
Reporting from the scene, CTV's Sarah Galashan said the rescued workers "just felt extreme relief."
The miners were trapped when fire broke out in polyethylene piping nearly a kilometre underground at about 3 a.m. Sunday.
When toxic smoke began to fill the tunnels, the miners retreated to so-called safe rooms -- spacious chambers that can be sealed off and are equipped with supplies of oxygen, food and water.
"In those refuge stations, the workers can seal themselves in with enough oxygen and food and water to be comfortable for the next 36 hours at least," Hamilton told CTV Newsnet Sunday.
Officials had not been able to establish contact with 30 of the workers until Sunday night. They are Dynatec Corporation miners who work as contract employees.
Each rescue team is equipped with breathing apparatus that allows them to work underground for up to four hours.
Most of the miners had been underground since Saturday night, having started work at 7 p.m. CST, Hamilton added.
He said while this might not be the biggest fire the mine has suffered, it is "the trickiest one that we've encountered in quite a few years.
"For most fires that happen in an underground operation, it may be as simple as throwing a couple shovels of potash on it to put it out. This one is proving to be a little more tricky," he said.
The Mosaic mine was Saskatchewan's first potash operation when it opened in 1962.
The mine is near Esterhazy, Sask., about 210 kilometres east of Regina and not far from the Manitoba border.
They shouldn't have under-aged people digging underground anyway...
The argument against Bush by the usual suspects was that under Bush, mining regulations were relaxed for rich mining companies ( why do they always have to use the adjective --- RICH ?)
The Sago miners died because there was not enough Oxygen for them while in Canada, workers made it to sealed emergency rooms equipped with water, food, beds and blankets as well as oxygen supplies to last at least 36 hours.
So, its all Bush's fault for relaxing requirements for miners to provide enough safety/oxygen/equipment to prevent unnecessary deaths.
OK, BUSH DEFENDERS, LETS HAVE A GO AT IT, WHAT SAY YOU ?
on one point - safe boxes with O2 were tried, and failed when the surviving miners lived long enough to be baked alive in the box when the coal burned around them. No one in the US will build/install one now because the F'n trial lawers. The rules for coal mining have not been relaxed in recent years. Another liberal lie that has become "the truth"
2) O2 +unlimited fuel is a recipe for disaster. a "safe box" in a coal mine fire is like putting a hamster in a microwave and turning it on high.
3) Forget the MSM - they're clueless. Read the MSHA safety reports. (Mining has it's own OSHA) and their safety record has improved 500% even since the Clinton years (Clinton tried to get rid of the MSHA).
4) WV has taken the lead to strengthen state rules that are even more stringent than the federal rules.
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