Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Two politicians have raised concerns about Penrice mine dust.

One has suggested a drastic remedy.

David Winderlich, independent member of the Legislative Council, called for the state government to ban Penrice from mining on hot and windy days.

Mr Winderlich and Ivan Venning – the Member for Schubert – have both highlighted Penrice dust as a health and environmental issue.

They believe Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) tests show the mine has produced dangerous levels of fine-particle dust – in breach of the National Environment Protection Monitoring standard.

The results were recorded by a ‘hotspot caravan’ that has been located near the mine for the past nine months.

Penrice Soda Holdings, the company that owns the Barossa mine, has rejected the figures.

Guy Roberts, Penrice managing director and chief executive officer, revealed the mine’s own EPA dust monitors had not recorded any dust emissions that breached standards.

“We deny these exeedences,” Mr Roberts said.

“The supposition is those results picked up by the hotspot caravan were due to outside mine factors.”

The ‘hotspot caravan’ monitoring station was put in place on March 31, for a period of 12 months.

Mr Venning said it was installed after appeals by nearby neighbours.

But he was worried the monitor did not meet national standards.

“The EPA is supposed to be the community’s watchdog authority with regard to environmental issues, but in this case it appears they have dropped the ball,” Mr Venning said.

“Is this body serious about enforcing environmental standards or are they merely a toothless tiger?”

Meanwhile, the mine has already committed to install a new dust suppressant system in coming months.

This will come at a cost of $200,000 and be located inside the mine’s aggregate crushing plant – one of the known sources of dust emissions.

This move follows trials of a water soluble, biodegradable foaming dust suppressant system.

However, Mr Venning urged the mine to do more.

He wants the crusher and conveyer belts enclosed, to help reduce dust emissions.

“No one including myself wants to see the mine closed,” Mr Venning said. “Everyone is aware of the employment the mine provides for locals and that the soda ash extracted from the mine is used to make glass bottles – in particular wine bottles.”

Mr Venning believes the mine can fit in with the community.

“But measures need to be taken to ensure this happens,” he said.

At least seven peasant miners have died of black lung disease and hundreds more have been diagnosed with the illness after working in gold mines in northwest China’s Gansu Province, the local health authority said Wednesday.

At least 314 cases had been confirmed in Gulang County of Wuwei City, said Cui Kai, the county’s health bureau chief.

These included 252 cases from Heisongyi town, where six had died. “Twelve cases, including one death, were reported in Huangyangchuan town and another 11 people were diagnosed in Shibalibu Village,” said Cui.

All the victims worked at a gold mine in Subei County in the industrial city of Jiuquan, 1,000 kilometers from their impoverished hometown.

“We received reports of suspected black lung disease from the local government in Heisongyi town in April, and began a medical survey,” said Cui.

The result, however, was shocking. Most patients had struggled with the disease for years. Some could not afford any treatment and simply waited to die.

Chen Dejin, 50, relies on an oxygen bottle 24 hours a day. “The doctor said no medicine would work on him any more,” said his wife, Ji Xinghua.

Chen was diagnosed in 2005. “We have borrowed more than 60,000 yuan (8,824 U.S. dollars) to cover his medical bills,” said Ji.

Chen’s workmate and neighbor Yang Zifa died early last year at the age of 36, leaving behind 70,000 yuan debts. His wife and two sons live on a government benefit of 880 yuan a year.

Most victims blamed the disease on “ill luck,” though they knew it was a result of inadequate protection.

“We wore very thin face masks and ventilation was poor in the pit. At the end of the day’s work we had to clean our nostrils of calcareous dust,” said Shang Zhifa, who was a miner for six years before he was confined to bed with the disease.

Despite the dust, there was no water to wet the drills or bathe themselves.

“Water had to be carried from 200 kilometers away,” said Shang. “About 20 of us shared one small basin of water to wash our hands and faces.”

Gulang County, locked in the remote mountains, is one of the poorest counties in China.

In Heisongyi town, the net per capita annual income was only 1,500 yuan last year, according to Li Cunguo, secretary of the Heisongyi Town Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Poverty forced local peasants into mining, which promised a stable income despite the high risk.

No one had a labor contract. “I asked, but the boss insisted an oral agreement would do,” said Shang. “I wouldn’t have agreed to that had I known the consequences.”

Without a labor contract, it was difficult to claim compensation or refund of medical costs, said Xu Shucai, an official in charge of labor and social security with Gulang county government. “We will work with the local government in Jiuquan to find a solution.”

Meanwhile, he said the county government had promised an annual allowance of 718 yuan for each patient.

One miner owner has denied the work caused the illness and he blamed tobacco.

“Mining cannot cause black lung disease,” said Pan Zhanlin, a business tycoon who owns the Deyi Mining Co. in Jiuquan, where some of the patients had worked. “They had lung problems because they smoked too much.”

Black lung, or pneumoconiosis, is a chronic occupational disease by the prolonged breathing of mine dust. There is no specific treatment for the ailment, according to Chinese Medical Association.

If containing dust on bulk out-loading is an issue then this award winning Dust Suppression Loading Hopper could be the answer.

The DSH hopper has tackled dust issues on sites handling products such as fertilisers, grain, pet food, sugar, salt, sand and gravel, with throughputs of up to 800 tonnes per hour.

At the point of loading the hopper concentrates the discharge of dry goods into a solid column through free air into any target, including trucks, rail cars, stock piles, storage containers or bags.

Uncomplicated to install and easy to operate and maintain, the hopper reduces hazards, health risks, dust, wastage, cleaning and maintenance costs.

The hoppers are manufactured in Polyethylene, Carbon steel, 304 and 316 stainless and provide a cost-saving and effective solution for the transferral of many dry granular goods.

Contact the Sales Team at Guttridge Limited for advice on how the DSH Hopper can work for you.

For more information contact;

Guttridge Ltd. Spalding, Lincs.
Tel 01775 765300

Web: www.guttridge.co.uk

If containing dust on bulk out-loading is an issue then this award winning Dust Suppression Loading Hopper could be the answer.

The DSH hopper has tackled dust issues on sites handling products such as fertilisers, grain, pet food, sugar, salt, sand and gravel, with throughputs of up to 800 tonnes per hour.

At the point of loading the hopper concentrates the discharge of dry goods into a solid column through free air into any target, including trucks, rail cars, stock piles, storage containers or bags.

Uncomplicated to install and easy to operate and maintain, the hopper reduces hazards, health risks, dust, wastage, cleaning and maintenance costs.

The hoppers are manufactured in Polyethylene, Carbon steel, 304 and 316 stainless and provide a cost-saving and effective solution for the transferral of many dry granular goods.

Contact the Sales Team at Guttridge Limited for advice on how the DSH Hopper can work for you.

For more information contact;

Guttridge Ltd. Spalding, Lincs.
Tel 01775 765300

Web: www.guttridge.co.uk

The Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) commemorated the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (Mine Act), which instituted the strongest and most comprehensive occupational safety and health protections that had ever been enacted in the country.

The Mine Act was born out of a mining disaster that occurred in November 1968, when 78 miners died in an explosion at Consolidation Coal’s No. 9 mine in Farmington, W.Va. Members of the mining community, angered by the continuing toll being taken on the lives of miners, rallied together and called for sweeping changes. Widows of some of the fallen miners even traveled to Washington to testify before Congress.

“The Farmington disaster changed the course of history and transformed mine safety and health in this country,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “In the end, those who perished led the way to legal reforms that spared the lives of the thousands of miners who would follow.”

“Like many others working in the mining industry 40 years ago, I remember the significant changes that passage of the Mine Act would make possible in the coming years,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “Over time, we have witnessed considerable improvements in mine safety and health, as well as in the lives of miners and their families – all brought about by this landmark legislation.”

The Mine Act increased enforcement powers at mines, mandated four complete inspections of underground coal mines and two complete inspections of surface mines annually, and established mandatory fines for all violations and criminal penalties for certain violations. It also established safety standards aimed at curbing mine accidents such as roof falls, mine fires and explosions, as well as haulage, electrical and other accidents. It designated limits on unhealthy coal mine dust and, for the first time, provided government benefits for miners disabled by black lung disease.

MSHA plans to further commemorate the 40th anniversary in March, when the new legislation went into effect.

Asarco officials told Rancho Resort residents Friday that an analysis of tailings from their community and a nearby tailings dam showed the dust is not much different from soil samples taken nearby and contain no dangerous levels of metals.

That didn’t seem to satisfy many among the 150 people who attended a meeting that included Asarco and several environmental agencies and experts.

University of Arizona Soil Water and Environmental Science professor Raina M. Maier tried to reassure residents that the dust that blew into their yards and homes is not dangerous based on tahe results of a laboratory analysis that Asarco handed out at the meeting. However, Maier did say the small size of the minute dust particles represent a health problem when inhaled..

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A coal truck driver killed in an October accident was driving an overloaded truck with a defective Jake brake switch, according to a federal report.

The driver, Darrell T. Seiber, 48, of Anderson County’s Devonia community also hadn’t received required miner training and wasn’t wearing a seat belt, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration report states.

Five citations were issued against National Coal Corp. of Knoxville and four citations were leveled against Cox Trucking of Wartburg in connection with the wreck.

Seiber was a recently hired contract driver with Cox Trucking.

Civil fines to be levied against the two firms haven’t been set yet, an administration spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Seiber died when his Mack truck overturned on a steep grade of a mine haul road. A Tennessee Highway Patrol report stated he had been driving too fast for road conditions.

According to the probe, “the contractor and mine operator failed to assure that defects affecting safety were corrected before the truck was put in service.”

The incident marked the first fatal accident on any coal mine property in Tennessee since 2004. It also prompted the Tuesday filing of a wrongful death lawsuit in Anderson County against National Coal Corp.

Seiber’s widow and 22-year-old son are plaintiffs in the complaint, which seeks $10 million in punitive damages and a $7 million compensatory judgment.

According to the lawsuit, the truck was overloaded, a contributing factor that constitutes “severe recklessness,” the complaint alleges.

There aren’t standards in its federal codes to cite a mine operator for overloaded trucks, Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said.

According to both the investigation and lawsuit, the truck was missing a Jake brake switch. Without that switch, the brake wouldn’t engage when the accelerator pedal was released, according to the federal probe.

Both the trucking firm and National Coal were cited because Seiber, who was employed in mid-September, hadn’t received “initial miner training,” according to the investigation report.

Dan Roling, president and CEO of National Coal, had no comment Wednesday. Efforts to contact Cox Trucking for comment were unsuccessful.

An introduction to the EPA’s effluent limitations guidelines and source performance standards.

Check dams at a construction site are configured for use of chemical flocculant treatment.
Jesse Pritts, EPA

Although streams and rivers naturally carry sediment loads, discharges associated with construction activity can elevate these loads to levels above those in undisturbed watersheds. Discharges from land disturbance can increase the proportion of silt, clay, and colloidal particles in receiving streams because these fine-grained particles may not be managed effectively by conventional erosion and sediment controls that rely on simple settling.

In response to these issues, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) and new source performance standards for discharges from construction and development (C&D) sites on Dec. 1, 2009. ELGs are technology-based standards for control of wastewater and stormwater discharges from various categories of industry and are not risk-based, so different standards are not set for different receiving waterbodies. ELGs can be numeric standards (i.e., discharge limitations) and/or best management practices (BMPs) and process changes. Many of the C&D ELG requirements are already included in EPA and state construction general permits (CGP) and new requirements will be phased in over the next few years for sites to sample stormwater discharges and comply with a numeric effluent limitation of 280 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). A sampling requirement will be triggered beginning Aug. 1, 2011, for sites disturbing 20 or more acres at once and beginning Feb. 2, 2014, for sites disturbing 10 acres or more at once.

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Sydney based road tanker manufacturer and rental business, Water Trucks Direct, have made a decision to standardise on Aussie Quik Prime pumps from Australian Pump Industries ’ product range. The company, operating from a facility at McGraths Hill in Sydney make a complete range of water tankers equipped for both dust suppression and water transport.

“We chose the Aussie pumps high pressure pumps because of their big flow, high pressure performance and overall reliability” said Water Trucks Direct Managing Director, Brenden Bastian. “The 5 year warranty offered by Australian Pump is a tremendous bonus” he said.

Water Trucks use both high volume transfer pumps for fast filling in 3”, 4” and 5” sizes. The big volume pumps are either PTO or hydraulic drive with diesel options being available. Smaller tankers in the 10,000 litre range use Aussie 3” self priming gushers that produce flows of up to 1,500 litres per minute. Genuine Japanese Honda petrol engines, one of the major features offered by Australian Pump and Yanmar diesel drives are both used depending on the application and customer’s requirements.

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The anticipated $100 million it will cost each year to reduce coal dust on shipments of Wyoming coal out of the Powder River Basin is causing friction between the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and some public utilities.

BNSF, as well as the Union Pacific Railroad, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars already to reduce coal dust since a 2005 derailment was blamed on coal dust accumulation on the tracks.

But industry officials say additional coal dust suppression measures may be required, costing millions more.

Possible solutions include covering cars, applying a latex coating, or filling cars with less coal.

American Public Power Association estimates whatever method is chosen will add $100 million annually to the cost of shipping coal out of the Powder River Basin.