I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
New Mexico state officials performed a safety inspection of the underground San Juan Coal Mine last Thursday, after a coal mine tragedy killed 29 miners in West Virginia. Bill Brancard, New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division director, said Monday that there are major differences between the two sites, and the San Juan mine has more safety mechanisms in place.
“West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine accident is a sobering reminder of the dangers workers face while coal mining,” Brancard said in a statement released Monday. “New Mexico’s coal mining industry must be constantly aware of the dangers and diligently take safety precautions.”
The inspection included looking at the mine’s monitoring system for underground mine atmospheric gases and the process for neutralizing those gases in abandoned areas of the mine. Officials also inspected refuge chambers, underground mine seals, the mine’s long-wall mining system and reviewed the evacuation procedures.
“All mining operations are inherently dangerous,” Terence Foreback, State Mine Inspector, said. “State safety regulations are designed to protect miners, but owners, operators and the miners who work the mines must also make safety a priority.”
There are major differences between the San Juan mine and the West Virginia mine, the officials said.
The San Juan Coal Company Mine is the only mine in the United States that utilizes a monitoring and neutralization system in abandoned areas; and the San Juan Mine refuge chambers near the working face already have a borehole established to the surface for communication, fresh air, food and water. There was no communication between the refuge chamber and the surface at the Upper Big Branch Mine, which required drilling a hole from the surface.
The San Juan Coal Mine has had one fatality during its 11 years in operation. In 2007, a miner died when a portion of conveyor equipment became detached from its base, struck and killed a miner. State officials conduct a safety inspection once every quarter, according to rules set forth in the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969.
