Since its concept and early invention in the 1940's, no other machine has revolutionized the coal mining industry
as the continuous mining machine.
Replacing picks and shovels, coal drills and explosives, the machine was able to rip
the coal from the coal face with little effort. This also included cutting down bad rock from the ceiling as well, leaving
the coal miner safe from falling rock.
One of the first ripper type continuous mining machines appeared in the early
1900's, but did not prove to be as effective as designers had hoped. The first machine to see success was built by an
American, Harold Silver, in 1943. The machine attracted the interest of Joy Manufacturing and three years later, Joy purchased
the patents for the machine.
These mining machines revolutionized the way coal was being mined, increasing coal
production ten fold from previous mining machines. But also, as coal production increased, so did the amount of coal and rock
dust being liberated.This exposed the coal miner to deadly concentrations of the dust leading to Black Lung and Silicosis
diseases.
Even with required MSAH (Mine Safety and Health Administration) governed ventilation of the entries, there
just doesn't seem to be enough air crossing over the ripperhead of the machine to effectively remove this dust form the
working face. The coal mine or machine operator was left breathing the dust.
But the greatest invention to come about,
since the continuous mining machine was the "scrubber". Early designs were being studied and tested since the late
1970's and full production in the mid 80's.This was an addition to the machine itself, utilizing a blower motor which
pulled air from the working face or area being cut down by the machine. The air was then filtered through the body of
the machine, being sprayed with water and pumping it into the conveyor chain line. Thus rendering the dust neutral and the
overall exposure to the machine operator was reduce drastically.
Regardless of ventilation requirements, whether the
required 3000 cfm or higher in some coal mines, the scrubber increased the air flow helping to render deadly gasses such as
methane harmless.
Scrubbers removed massive amounts of respirable coal and rock dust from the working face, reducing
the amount of dust the miner was exposed to. One other thing the scrubber aided in was visibility. If rock was being taken
or cut down by the machine, rock dust would produced so thick that it would inhabit visibility. The machine operator could
barely see what he was cutting if he could see it at all.
The federal agency set up to help the coal miner, the Mine
Safety and Health Administration or MSHA, once bragged about having the miners health and safety at heart. Their number 1
goal was to look out for and protect the coal miner.
MSHA quote,"While considerable progress has been made
in reducing miners exposure to respirable coal mine dust, miners continue to develope black lung and silicosis. MSHA is implementing
a comprehensive strategy that includes rulemaking, enhanced enforcement, collaborative outreach and education and training.
The risk to a miner's health can be reduced by controlling respirable coal mine dust exposures. It's time to End Black
Lung ACT NOW! " (Quoted from the MSHA web site)
Many studies were conducted in "test labs", not in actual
coal mine settings, these being "controlled conditions" and not actual mining conditions. The result of these test,
again, conducted by people in a lab and not real coal miners, showed that more fresh air could be sent to the working face
area without the use of scrubbers. HOGWASH!!!
The end result was simple! MSHA outlawed the use of continuous miner scrubbers
when taking less than a 40 foot cut!
This decision was made by idiots in a laboratory, with no mining experience what
so ever, put into force by another idiot with a degree in coal mining engineering who also has no underground mining experience!
Personally,
book smarts does not make you a coal miner!! If you want to call yourself a true coal miner, then take the 80 hours trainee
course and work your way up the ranks like everyone else. You come out of school with a degree and a certification calling
yourself a underground mine foreman but have no practical underground experience!
MSHA decision to outlaw or ban the
use of continuous miner scrubbers has set the coal industry's health and safety standards back 30 years! They once were
determined to help protect the coal miner but with this ban, they have increased the miners exposure to coal and rock dust!
A decision made by white collar bureaucrat with no underground experience, sitting in an environmentally controlled office,dictating
how we mine coal!
Back to square one!
The feature below is designed to take names and comments from the
web site viewers. When WVCOALHISTORY.COM receives enough of these names and comments, they will be forwarded to the MSHA,
state and federal, and to each of our elected officials. Our hopes are to have this ban over turned and the use of our scrubbers
restored. Protecting our health and safety!
**note** The author of this site is an active coal miner. Breathing the
coal and rock dust produced by these machines every night! So he does know what he is talking about!
