We May Soon Get News We DON'T Want to Hear

Published on August 27, 2004 By Gideon MacLeish In Misc

In my current bout of unemployment, I was seriously considering returning to the mine to work in a few weeks. No more.

The mine has been shut down for three weeks, first because of an MSHA (mine safety & health admin) violation, now because of flooding in Death Valley, where the mine is located.

The MSHA citation came because they continued to produce ore after the fans broke, meaning the only ventilation going into the mine was that which was drifting down naturally, and there was very little exhaust for the diesel fumes of the machinery and the mine gases that are the natural byproduct of blasting. While miners can go down without the fans, as there is adequate air, no blasting is allowed, and no machinery is to be run. This means no ore comes up, an end outcome the mine bosses do not like.

I have it from several well placed sources that, in an attempt to restore the fan to operating condition, they bypassed the electrical supply for the emergency hoist to provide power. The emergency hoist is the only way of evacuating the miners if the main hoist does not work, or is inaccessible, or if the power fails (the emergency hoist can operate off of the generators; the main hoist draws too much power).

Add to these conditions the fact that it takes water 4-6 weeks to trickle from the surface down to the level that is being actively mined. Water in a soft rock mine is a virtual guarantee of rockfall; the seriously large amounts of water that inundated Death Valley is a virtual guarantee of significant rockfall. Put these facts together with the aforementioned situation, and the miners will be walking back into a virtual death trap when they return to the mine. And I'm not willing to take that risk, not for a measly $10 an hour (they finally raised the pay from $9).

Basically, the mine bosses have put the acquisition of ore far above company safety. And this time it may cost them something irreplaceable.

signing off,

Gideon MacLeish

Comments

Spc Nobody Special

on Aug 28, 2004

all this, and you get to live in death valley too? You should join the infantry, the pay's better, and it's probably safer.

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 28, 2004

actually, I would but I can't. My weight's too high, and I believe you can't enroll past 35, so that option is shortly closing for me (I'm 34).

Plus, I'm not sure my knees would pass the physical.

kingbee

on Aug 28, 2004

the entity or person (s) operating that death trap need to jailed and have the place removed from their control. i realize you have a very strong work ethic and youre willing to work whatever job youre able to obtain, but there's a difference between engaging in a hazardous occupation in an environment where risks are carefully considered, minimized to the greatest extent possible and contingencies for dealing with anticipated dangers are in place...and a suicide mission.

i realize youre not properly oriented sexually for the position but i believe theres a much safer vacancy still open at the mirage in lv. ask for siegfried and tell him 'simba' sent you

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 28, 2004

King,

I agree with you wholeheartedly, however, administrative agencies have been deaf to the pleas of the miners.

If it were ever to get to the proper point, I am willing to testify under oath to the fact that I and the other miners were instructed to "tag out" ALL equipment, indicating it was not in use and to close off the active stopes we were mining prior to the MSHA inspection during my time there. I am also willing to testify that noncitizens routinely handled ordinance, a violation of ATF regulations, and that some of the noncitizens in question may have been illegals (in fact, we know they were illegals, but we can't prove it).

The problem is, death valley is in the middle of nowhere, and, as most of the miners are Mexican workers with families to support in Mexico, they're not willing to testify to support my claim. This means it's my word against theirs.

My proposed solution would be for the government to provide complete amnesty and citizenship for the miners who are willing to testify against the company, as it's their lives they're putting on the line.

And, if I can catch up with Seigfried, I'll blow him a kiss for you, k?

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 28, 2004

One more thing: while the proper authorities have been deaf to my pleas, if there is a serious injury or death, I do intend to offer full cooperation to testify as to what I've seen. Granted, I don't have as much info as someone who's been there for years, but I am at least one willing whistleblower.

kingbee

on Aug 28, 2004

who owns the company? do they contract with the government? is it part of a larger conglomerate?

cal-osha used to be fairly responsive--especially when advised of egregious abuses and potentially catastrophic conditions--til pete wilson did his best to leash them during the 90s (to counter that, they began referring cases to federal osha). isnt there a separate mine safety & health monitoring agency?

someone must be keeping an eye on borax (i guess thats formerly us borax?) they have a page on their website that goes into considerable detail discussing --this is clearly aimed at employees--particulate inhalation and the risks posed by each of the constituents.

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 28, 2004

No, the US borax mine is a separate company. They still have a claim next to ABC's claim, but the mine hasn't operated for years.

American Borate is a separate company. They are based out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

kingbee

on Aug 28, 2004

gotcha on the borax company. here's the safety page i was referring to . Link

check out the sublinks.

kingbee

on Aug 28, 2004

hahahaha guess who owns american borate? owens-corning

you might be able to do your testifying and get the benefit of it too

i found this without even trying Link

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 28, 2004

aaaah, yes...the infamous fatalgram from the mill death (by the way, though, I didn't see where you found the owens-corning link on that).

The scuttlebutt on that accident, by the way, from those who were there, was that Cypert was dissatisfied with the progress the crane operator was making and he demanded that he get off of the crane. Cypert then climbed on and operated the crane. This is, by the way, why objects were moved (the first citation); an MSHA citation is FAR LESS damaging than a criminal charge of negligent homicide.

There have been so many coverups at both the mill and the mine over the years.

kingbee

on Aug 29, 2004

by the way, though, I didn't see where you found the owens-corning link on that

it wasnt on the page to which i sent you a link (that dated back to 1995...i found others for 97 and later but i didnt grab em) here's a link to the page that connects american borate to owens-corning. link that page has been updated in 2004 so id think the info is correct.

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