Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Archive for the ‘coal dust’ Category

Under scrutiny since the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its 2006 Combustible Dust Hazard Study, General Industry Housekeeping provision 1910.22 has been taken to task by OSHA. The amendment comes as a result of employers’ misinterpretation of housekeeping standards already included in the provision.

In a hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, OSHA assistant secretary Edwin G. Foulke Jr. said the provision will “state more explicitly what has always been true–that the standard applies to accumulations of dust that contribute to an explosion hazard. This clarification of language in the provision will eliminate any doubt that employers are obligated to prevent combustible dust from accumulating in their workplaces.”

Although OSHA’s General Industry Housekeeping provision 1910.22 does not specifically address housekeeping and fugitive dust, other OSHA standards do and suggest that operations “eliminate the use of compressed air jets to clean accumulated dust from equipment or clothing, and substitute a vacuum-cleaning system.”

However, there is a noted lack of regulation regarding the handling of fugitive dust for general industry, including food, rubbers, metal, pharmaceuticals, plastics, paint and synthetic organic chemicals.

Vacuum Cleaning = First Defense Against Dust

In nearly all industries, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends vacuum cleaning as the preferred first defense method of controlling fugitive dust. NFPA 654 states “vigorous sweeping or blowing down with steam or compressed air produces dust clouds.” Despite NFPA and OSHA recommendations, many companies still use air compressors and brooms to clean surrounding equipment, and areas of dust and debris. This may be due to the misconception about industrial vacuum cleaners and sheer oversight when reviewing production processes. The problem with using brooms and air compressors is that they just blow the dust around, resulting in small particles that settle onto elevated surfaces.
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The dust from a mine is significantly different from the dust you find in your home. Dust in your home primarily consists of dead skin while mine dust is almost exclusively a mineral in a fine powder form.

Most written definitions of mine dust include the following: dust from drilling, blasting, smashing or handling of rock. The majority of the dust created by one of these activities are too large to stay in the air for an extended period of time and account for about 40 percent of all dust created at a mine site. The remainder is less than 10 micrometers in size. The majority of these particles is less than 2.5 micrometers and come from the exhaust of equipment used on the mining site.

The smallest size particle is what is most hazardous to the population’s health. The larger dust particles are an eye sore and are cost a lot to clean up, but are less hazardous to one’s health.

The smaller particles do make certain health hazards that include respiratory problems due to the fact that they are in the air that is breathed in to the lungs. This can be minimized if mining personnel were to wear masks designed to filter out the dust.

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Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean condemned the killing of an activist opposed to a Canadian mine during the last day of a state visit to Mexico while protesters chanted "Canada, get out."

About 50 supporters of Mariano Abarca Roblero were kept about 200 metres from a Mayan women’s collective where Jean visited the colonial town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, about five hours from the mine’s location.

"We find it deplorable, inexcusable," Jean said in a statement Wednesday.

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An environmental advocacy group known as Environment Virginia released a report this week that identifies Alexandria’s Mirant coal-fired power plant as the second dirtiest in Virginia. The report, titled "America’s Biggest Polluters," used carbon dioxide emissions data from 2007 to conduct an analysis of the plants and create a ranking system. The finding comes at a time when city officials are coordinating with Mirant to erect a 30-foot windscreen in an effort to control fugitive dust from the plant.

"It’s very disappointing, but I must say it’s not surprising," said Councilwoman Del Pepper. "I’m hopeful that with the $ 34 million we got to improve the plant will address some of the problems."

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U.S. Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)

Respirable coal mine dust can cause lung diseases such as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), emphysema, silicosis, and bronchitis—known collectively as black lung. Black lung can lead to lung impairment, permanent disability, and even death. While there is no cure for black lung, there are important and potentially life-saving measures that MSHA requires to be undertaken to reduce exposure to respirable coal mine dust and prevent disease. Even though these measures have been required for many years, new cases of black lung disease continue to occur among the nation’s coal miners, even in younger miners.

Recently, MSHA conducted a targeted enforcement initiative that focused on miners’ exposures to respirable coal mine dust at selected underground coal mines. As a result of the lessons MSHA learned during this initiative, the agency requests that underground coal mine operators conduct audits of their respirable dust monitoring and control programs and address any deficiencies.

Dust sampling programs did not adequately address proper maintenance of sampling equipment or ensure that samples are collected at the required times (either on shifts or days).

Many mining operations implement a haul road dust control program in order to decrease the level of fugitive dust in the work area. 

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FANQUIP’S Mining Division provides mines and quarries with total conceptual planning and custom design, heavy duty products, installation of ventilation and air control systems.

Company specialists can advise on strategic air control at the development stage or integrate into plants which have been in operation for some length of time. Fanquip’s Mining Division focuses on temperature control, ventilation, management of confined space environments, dust control  both in suppression and collection, and management of toxic gases and emissions.

Haul Road Dust Control  is a fundamental element to the efficient venture of a mining company. Not only with regards to security but as well to the employees wellbeing.  Surface mining operations use huge off-road haul trucks extensively to move material at mining properties. Historical research, using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emissions factors for unpaved haul roads, has revealed that haul trucks produce the bulk of dust emissions from surface mining sites, accounting for approximately 78%-97% of total dust emissions. This is even greater with a low value haul road dust control  program.

Observations of dust emissions from haul trucks prove that if the dust emissions are unrestrained, they can be a safety danger by means of impairing the operator’s visibility. This increases the likelihood for haul truck accidents. Yet, the greatest long-term health risk of dust generated from hauling operations is due to breathing of the respirable dust [median diameter <4 micrometers (μm)] and thoracic dust, which is equivalent to the EPA’s definition of PM10 [particulate matter with a median diameter <10 μm]. Exposure to respirable dust has always been considered a health hazard on surface mining operations, particularly if silica dust is there.

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Soils Control International has accomplished the same results with their product, Top-Seal Dust Control 

DuPont Australia’s groundbreaking work to reduce dust emissions from trains carrying coal and to improve air quality recently earned two industry awards:

* The Australian Mining Prospect Award for Excellence in Environmental Management
* The Australian Bulk Handling Award for Dust Control Technology

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Federal officials unveiled a three-pronged strategy to combat black lung disease during a meeting Thursday at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver.

Mining officials and medical experts say education, stricter enforcement and new regulations can curb the disease, which has been on the rise in the region and has killed some 10,000 miners in the last decade.

Thursday’s meeting was the first of four informational sessions planned by Mine Safety and Health Administration.

“There is a collective agreement that we have to fix this problem,” MSHA Director Joseph Main told a packed room that included representatives from mining companies, the United Mine Workers of America and former miners suffering from the ailment.

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New rules to reduce miners’ exposure to coal dust will be proposed within a couple of weeks, according to the nation’s top mine supervisory body.

Joseph Main, the new head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Organization, said he has long thought there is “a need to lower the intensity of unhealthy dust in mines,” and he indicated that a new, wearable dust control monitor that can continuously measure miners’ contact to coal dust may be part of the new rules.

“A mechanism has been built, it has been tested, I’ve worn it myself. It works,” Main told the media in a meeting call Friday. “It’s a tool we can now utilize to help fix this dilemma of unhealthy coal mine dust that has plagued miners.”

That dust can cause deadly black lung, which has killed more than 21,000 miners from Kentucky and other coal-producing states since the mid-1980s.

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