Comments by Seth

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Written on Centennial of Briceville's Cross Mountain Mine disaster remembered :

in response to buzzwordbob:

"An accident is an unfortunate event resulting from carelessness, unawareness, ignorance, or a combination of causes."

There should be zero tolerance for those operaters whose mine disasters fall under the above definition.

The only acceptable reason in todays world for men being killed in an underground mine would be an"act of God".

One death is one too many!!

The most common cause of airline accidents is human error – not “act of God,” whatever that means... Do we ban air travel?

Written on EPA gathers public input at hearing on coal ash disposal:


Soil also contains the heavy metals that you mention from your lab test results. Why? Because they are naturally occuring substances... If you dump 5 million cy of soil into the Emory River it would also kill fish. Yes, TVA messed up. They (we) are paying for it and believe me, other power companies have taken heed...

You say that "the coal industry is not regulated, few coal mines have safety regulations in place to protect miners..."

Oh dear... If you had ever been to a coal mine you know that they won't let you on site without site specific safety training and numerous safety precautions. Safety is shoved down your throat... (and that's just for the surface, underground is a whole different story...) And while you were there you would have heard more or less everyone whining about "MSHA..." Ever heard of the Mine Safety and Health Administration? (they make and inforce the non existant regulations you spoke of) Mine companies are in constrant struggle with MSHA because MSHA does their job and does it annoyingly well.

You are spouting things about an Industry that you don't understand... Do your homework and don't just believe and repeat everything you hear.

Yes, Coal ash SHOULD be regulated just as coal refuse is regulated, but it is not "toxic waste" and should not be regulated as such.



Written on New mining rules to aid water quality :

A dam is an embankment between two hillsides. Generally constructed of coarse refuse (mainly rock) and used to settle out fine refuse (i.e. sand, silt, clay, coal particles)... The Corps of Engineers defines a stream bed as anything with a watershed greater than 15 acres. In the Appalachian mountains one would be hard pressed to find ANY hollow with a drainage area of less than 15 acres.

Written on New mining rules to aid water quality :

You are correct. MSHA has requirements for the safety and effectiveness of impoundments, ponds, and other appurtenances that have a direct effect on maintaining water quality. The states and EPA set water quality standards. The point is that this regulation stops all possibility of wet storage of coal waste via dams. In other words: this requirement systematically ends all coal mining (I'm pretty sure this is the idea anyway, though no one says it). Existing dams have remaining capacity but that won't be the case for long. What do you propose we do with the waste?

It seems there is no shortage of those attacking coal mining. My question is: What is their solution? I have no problem with alternative sources of energy, but those are years down the road. It's easy to think that we will suddenly be able to rely on wind and solar, but we will run out of silicon for solar panels, we will need to spend billions of dollars on high voltage transmission lines for wind power (not to mention the turbines), and it takes 20+ years to start up a nuclear reactor. There are a host of other issues involved with power storage and peak demand that will have to be resolved. Until these issues are worked out I would argue that the best solution is to conserve electricity and continue to extract coal as responsibly as possible.

Anyone who doesn't think that the jobs associated with mining are of any importance is riding around on the wrong part of the unicorn.

Written on New mining rules to aid water quality :

1.) Ever met a coal miner? They look just like regular people (go figure)! They have eyes and noses and souls and children to feed. If you want wind and solar, promote it, but don't fight to end someone else's lively hood.

2.) This regulation doesn't just stop mtr. No valley fills means no waste impoundments. No waste impoundments means no where to put fine coal waste and in some cases coal ash (all coal mining and burning requires waste storage). Stop burning coal, turn off your computer, and go outside to chop down all your trees for firewood, because it's going to get cold waiting around in the dark for wind and solar power.

3.) Show me your "ton of science." I took science class all the way through grade school, high school, and dabbled in it in engineering school; I'm not following this "science" argument. MSHA and the states strictly regulate the quality of water that is released into receiving streams. If a site isn't meeting those strict regulations, it is required to comply. Mining has come a long way since the 60's and 70's (it's 2010). Those who describe mining in the 60's and 70's to criticize coal mining today are disillusioned to say the least.

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