MineARC Welcomes Joe Main Testimony to Upper Big Branch Investigating Sub Committee.

26 May 2010
Dallas, Texas, USA.

MineARC is encouraged by the recent testimony of Joe Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA), to the senate sub committee investigating the recent mining tragedies at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

In his testimony, Main stated: “Another critical need MSHA hopes to meet is testing of the refuge chambers miners rely upon if trapped underground in a mine emergency. When Congress passed the MINER Act in 2006 after the Sago disaster it required underground coal mines to install what are commonly referred to as refuge chambers, where miners would have available breathable air, food and water until help could arrive from the surface. The implementation of this requirement was a significant improvement in mine safety.

“However, some of the more common commercially available units have not been tested for human survivability. Such testing for survivability in extreme conditions such as heat from geothermal sources or a fire is a high priority need.”

MineARC Systems has always conducted thorough independent testing of its refuge chambers before supplying them to mines - particularly in regard to heat and related cooling. We would agree with Joe Main however, that unfortunately a number of mines currently operating in the US have indeed been supplied with refuge chambers that have not been properly independently tested and are not equipped with intrinsically safe refuge cooling.

To obtain further information on MineARC independent test data please contact MineARC System’s US office on +1 (214) 337 5100.

MineARC Systems

For more info on this media release please contact Ben Johnson, Marketing Manager, on: +61 (8) 9333 4966 or ben.johnson@minearc.com.au
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