One-hour self-rescuers or the equivalent were not provided for the workmen in 40 room 3 flat 2 main section. A Notice of Violation No. 4 was issued March 30, 1970, on Form 104(b) requiring that this violation be abated by 8 a.m. on March 31, and a Notice of Penalty No. 4 pertaining thereto was issued March 30. This violation was not totally abated in the time set, and a Notice No. 4 was issued on Form 104(b) Extension, extending the time for total abatement of the foregoing violation and for other employees in the mine to 8 a.m. June 1. Potable drinking water was not provided in sanitary containers in the 40 room 3 flat 2 main section. A Notice of Violation No. 6 was issued March 30, 1970, on Form 104(b) requiring that this violation be abated by 12:01 a.m. May 1, and a Notice of Penalty No. 6 pertaining thereto was issued March 30. James B. Hannon James B. Shannon Federal Coal Mine Inspector COAL MINE INSPECTION REPORT MAPLE CREEK MINE UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION COAL OPERATIONS-RAW MATERIALS, FRICK DISTRICT December 3-5, 10-12, 15-19, 22-23, 1969 by Richard H. Reid Federal Coal Mine Inspector INTRODUCTION This report is based on an inspection made in accordance with provisions of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act (66 Stat. 692; 30 U.S.C. Secs. 451-483) as amended. The numeral recorded after a section identification shows the number of consecutive repetitions of the hazard cited under the Code. The operator and mine workers are parties to the National Bituminous GENERAL INFORMATION The Maple Creek mine at New Eagle, Washington County, Pennsylvania, is opened by 5 shafts, 3 drifts, and a slope into the Pittsburgh coalbed, which averages 78 inches in thickness in the area being mined. Since the last Federal inspection, Daniel Ashcraft, Monongahela, Employment was provided for 721 persons, of whom 593 worked underground and 128 on the surface. The mine was operated on 2 coalproducing and 1 maintenance shifts a day, 5 and 6 days a week. An average of 9,663 tons of coal was produced daily. The life of the mine was estimated to be 59 years. The last Federal inspection was completed September 24, 1969. A spot-check inspection was made October 13. 1 Coal was mined with continuous-mining machines, and pillars were extracted by the pocket-and-wing method. Approximately 12 inches of draw slate was mined with the coal seam. The immediate roof was about 12 inches of wild coal overlain with laminated shale and coal of varying thicknesses, The main roof was sandstone. Minimum standards for support, utilizing roof bolts supplemented with wooden planks, wooden cap blocks, posts, steel beams, and hydraulic roof jacks, had been adopted and at the close of this inspection were followed in accordance with the plans outlined by the Bureau's roof-control investigator. Roof bolts were installed on 4-foot centers lengthwise and crosswise in 16-foot wide entries, crosscuts, and pillar pockets to within 4 feet of the face before mining was started. Breaker posts and hydraulic jacks were required to be set in openings to the gob during pillar extraction. The plan appeared to be adequate for the roof conditions observed during this inspection. The mine is classed gassy in accordance with the laws of the State. A split system of ventilation was used to ventilate the working sections. The quantity of air passing through the last open crosscuts in developing sections varied from 13,000 to 28,000 cubic feet a minute and the quantity of air entering the intake ends of pillar lines varied from 52,000 to 57,000 cubic feet a minute. Plastic line brattice installed exhausting from the last open crosscut and maintained to within 8 feet of the faces and plastic checks were used to direct the air to the working faces. The line brattice was secured on wooden framework constructed after each advance of the continuous-mining machine. Ventilation at the working faces was adequate. Suitable preshift, onshift, and weekly examinations of the mine were made, and the results of these examinations were properly recorded. Neither methane nor an oxygen deficiency was indicated by means of a permissible flame safety lamp during this inspection. The analyses of air samples collected in the split returns of the working sections and in the main return airways at the bottom of the Spinner and Cherokee shafts are shown in table 1. Methane monitors were installed on two of the continuous-mining machines. The mine surfaces varied from wet to dry. Dangerous accumulations of loose coal and coal dust were not observed. The cleanup of loose coal and coal dust and the application of rock dust were included as part of the mining cycle. Rock dust was applied to the roof and ribs by compressed-air-operated rock-dust machines and to the floor by hand after each advance and cleanup of the working faces. Followup rockdusting was done between shifts and on weekends by high-pressure and bulk-dusting machines. Compressed-air-operated rock-dust distributors were installed and operated continuously in the immediate return from each working place while coal was mined at the face. Water was used to allay dust at the faces and at all loading points. Dust resulting from drilling roof-bolt holes was collected by permissible dust collectors. Spot-location dust samples were not collected during this inspection. Rock dust had been applied to the mine surfaces and maintained within 40 feet of the faces including all open crosscuts, except the floor of No. 6 split 1 main 55 room section was not adequately rock-dusted. This area was rerock-dusted promptly. Dust surveys were made in seven developing sections, the analyses of which are shown in table 3. The samples were collected at predetermined intervals of 300 feet in all sections, except 51 and 55 room sections in 1 main 5 flat where the samples were collected at 200-foot intervals. A dust sample was collected in every third crosscut of each entry. A total of 376 dust samples was collected, all of which contained more than 65 percent incombustible material. The mine, including the back and parallel entries, appeared to be adequately rock-dusted at the close of this inspection. Electric face equipment was permissible type and maintained free of dust and grease accumulations. Defects found in permissible electric face equipment were corrected promptly. Overload protection was provided. Trailing cables were flame-resistant types and were provided with short-circuit protection. Tests for gas were made in face`regions before electric face equipment was energized at the beginning of the shift, before the equipment was taken inby the last open crosscut, and at frequent intervals while the equipment was being operated in the face regions. Gas and oil wells were plotted on the mine map. Blocks of coal of sufficient size were left intact around these wells where they were encountered in the active workings of the mine. Active workings were not approaching adjacent mines. |