Utah’s (latest) Coal Mine Disaster
11 Comments Published August 9th, 2007 in National and International Issues, Southern Utah People, Southern Utah Talking Points and Questions.The top story for all of the national news programs was the (latest) Utah coal mine disaster again.
I’m originally from Carbon County. That’s ‘Carbon’ as in ‘Coal’. My father-in-law was a coal miner. I thought coal mining was the only industry there was when I was growing up. I’ve worked in a coal mine myself. Not for long … I really did it because I thought I ought to have that experience before I left the County. (It was the old Wilberg mine, too. That was just one disaster removed from the current one.)
So I’m a little closer to the situation going on in Huntington Canyon than your average guy.
There are things about coal mining other than the fact that it kills miners occasionally. It contributes a huge part of the greenhouse gas that’s cooking all of us to death. It sucks up much of the available water when they turn it into electricity. And if they strip mine it (Utah coal mines are shaft mines), vast tracts of land are turned into garbage.
The question is, “What should we do about mining coal?”
Would you be willing to pay more for electricity? Would you be willing to have a nuclear power plant near your house? (Ted Kennedy isn’t even willing to have a wind farm on the distant horizon near his house.) And if you’re not willing to do these things, are you co-responsible for the (latest) Utah mine disaster?
I was just checking in and I see no comments still. I can’t even think of a thing to say. There is nobody left down there and on tv I see them still acting like there are. Ido feel bad for them but that is a nasty hole in the ground.. Being mining people you would think they would know and stop with all the hope. I guess it is for themselves they do it. How long it will take to get out the bodies I can’t imagine but from what I see the air is not even good enough to sustain life if they are close to alive in there. It’s sad but true.
And they tell people there are jobs americans won’t do. Makes me angry every time I hear that. The US has Mexicans, terrorists and China all taking bites out of it and the Admin in Washington doesn’t even notice. It all infuriates me. Frieda
Thanks for the comment, Frieda. The reason there are no other comments is probably that not many people (other than YOU) are reading this page yet. Starting out is a slow process.
“And they tell people there are jobs americans won’t do.”
Three of the six miners caught in the cave-in were Mexican nationals. The Mexican consul from Salt Lake was there to look after the interests of his citizens.
I think “they tell you” correctly.
In fact, it’s a mining tradition. Only the nationalities change. It used to be Finn’s, Swedes, Chinese, Slovenians (my father in law’s country of origin) and so forth around the globe. Now it’s Mexicans. Check the roles of who died in the granddaddy mining disaster, the Schofield Mine where over two hundred miners died. Most were Welsh.
Speaking as a sister of a coal miner killed in the Wilberg Disaster, you never want to give up hope that they are alive. It’s easy to say just give up when it’s not your family member down there.
Dan, you are strategically placed these days it seems. A CNN bird told me that the leader of the LDS fundamentalists down your way is going to get his day in court like maybe now. CNN was interviewing the most active of the women who escaped the clan and is going, I hope, to send him to jail or hell where he really belongs for a long long time. How does it feel to live right next to that lot? I would have got a dog long ago with them around. And big congrats to Roxy who has that beautiful fellow now. I would worry that with all the mental pressure there is on everyone the whole bunch would just blow one day. Something so big it could be seen on the moon.
Now, let us all(3) know when things happen in the mines and with the Mormons. I will check in now and then. Frieda
Frieda, you must have this particular blog in a “Favorites” list. There are lots of updates on the page, including this one about touring Colorado City.
You’ve got to read some of the other articles on the page!
The polygamists are just people like the rest of us. A bit misguided, perhaps, but there’s a lot of that going around.
Just in case anyone else wonders, here’s a picture of “that beautiful fellow”.
This occured almost a yr ago, I believe. But it is still an issue we all need to think more about. Is this the mine the powers that be finally decided to close as a memorial? I’d had chemo not long before this incident & my memory is somtime foggy eversince.
Becky, My heart goes out to you & all others in your situation.
My Maternal Grandfather’s family comes from PA & OH area where coal mining is a huge industry. Grandpa worked the OH mine only 1 day. Came home, washed, packed & announced he was going north to work in the auto shops. During the depresion he & his family were sent even further north where he had to work the copper mines. They did move back to Detroit where he retired from Crysler oh so many yrs later.
The living conditions around the mines make me cry. There has to be a better, cleaner way to obtain fossil fuels. And better wages for those who put their lives in danger every day so we can keep warm, cool, in the light, in the air, & on the roads.
What are these mines doing to our understructures? There are enough natural caves & sinkholes already … do we really have to create more?
Strip minning is totally unconsianable (wish I had a hard copy dictionary!!!). It takes everything right off the surface of our grand Earth. I saw Orion Township do that a few yr back when they decided to put in a park. They tore down all kinds of self seeded trees & plants, disrupting wildlife, just so they could replace them with new trees & grass! What a waste!! Just imagine, we have been doing the same thing underground all these yrs!
Related Muse, here: What would happen if we were to fill in old mines with our excess garbage? A landfill near here now looks more like a foothill!
Instead of using our hard earned $ on studies that aren’t going to help us (space exploration, why cows burp, why this color looks darker than that one, ect, ect) I would prefer my $ be used on finding inexpensive fuel alternatives. And less expensive, affordable health care … but thats another blog!
I’ve seen power plants in the n part of lower MI, & I’ve seen power plants in OH & PA. So much difference! But, no I would NOT want to live near 1. I wouldn’t mind living near wind farms, tho. I’ve seen them on my way to MD. I’ll have to stop & investigate if ever I can afford to travel that way again!
Thanks for letting me spout off!!! :}
Oh jeeze, I think my reply was bigger then your blog!!! Should I start my own webpage? You’ll probably tell me to erase your addy, eh?
Ellie
It’s great having a little more activity in my blog. Thanks for posting.
I’m not sure it would work to fill coal mines with garbage, but Carbon County fills the vast open desert with garbage. They also have one of the world’s really great open pit garbage dumps there. They bring it in by the trainload.
OMG!!! I thought it was bad enough that our landfills accept not only Michigan’s garbage, but also from various states & Can!!!
“fills the vast open desert with garbage”
This is the most awful misuse of land I’ve heard of yet!!! Where has my head been? Stuck under the covers, I guess! (can’t breath under the sand … ) Has this been brought to the Nations attention?
We need the ecosystem of the deserts to balance our wetter, cooler areas. Has anyone thought about how THIS is affecting our thinning atmosphere & Global Warming. I bet the strip minning would also affect it!
(sorry, don’t know about HTML markup … Will have to find out more about it)
Nowjustasecondhere …
While I share your enthusiasm for doing something about it, if we generate the garbage in the first place, then it must go somewhere. They dig huge landfills and cover it up in Carbon County. It doesn’t pollute any aquifers (no water) and it’s not an eyesore (no people to look at it).
I would invite your suggestions about where else it should go.
I think we generate way too much garbarge! We need to use more natural & biodegradable products … less man-made plastics (isn’t petroleum used in it’s manufacture? Do more recycling. Sorry, like so many others, I have no ideas about where we can bury our garbage. I kinda jumped the gun on this one, eh?
We recycle most everything. (Quite frankly, about the only thing in our garbage can each week is cat crap.) We have a composting bin in the back yard and we collect cans, bottles, plastic and paper and every now and then, we load our little four-banger truck up for a trip to the recycling center. (See Recycling Comes to Color Country)
But most people don’t. So there’s gotta be a place for it.
I just wish it was possible to buy things with less packaging.