“Abandoned mines and quarries are dangerous places, and although the number of fatalities at these sites has dropped over the past two years, we are still troubled by these deaths,” Environmental Protection secretary Kathleen McGinty said.
The most recent death occurred on December 30 at a minesite in Brush Valley Township, Indiana County.
A 37-year-old man was killed when his ATV overturned while he was attempting to climb a 65-degree slope in an area that was posted as closed to all motorised vehicles. A passenger on the ATV escaped serious injury.
A second fatality happened on October 18 in Cass Township, Schuylkill County, at an abandoned minesite in the Duncott area.
A 25-year-old man climbed onto the support structure of a conveyor belt system approximately 25 feet above the ground and came in contact with a 23,000-volt power line. He was found in a stream below the conveyor.
This is the lowest number of fatalities involving trespassing at mines and quarries in Pennsylvania since 2001. Although there were no drowning fatalities in quarries for the first time in the past six years, the state recorded an ATV-related fatality for the third consecutive year.
More people are killed each year while trespassing in mines and quarries than from accidents at all active mining operations in Pennsylvania. Thirty people died nationwide in abandoned mines in 2006.
To help counter this problem, the Pennsylvania DEP has partnered with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, other state agencies and the active mining industry to promote the “Stay Out-Stay Alive” campaign.
Inspectors from DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety have been meeting with property owners and local and county emergency responders to have them post signs that warn of the dangers of abandoned sites and to restrict access to these places.
In addition, mine rescue personnel visit schools, colleges and community groups to speak about the dangers of abandoned mines and quarries.
Pennsylvania has the largest abandoned mine lands problem in the country, with more than 180,000 acres of unmarked shafts, unstable cliffs and waste piles, water-filled pits and abandoned equipment left over from when mining was largely unregulated prior to 1977.
Congress recently reauthorised a 15-year extension to the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Trust Fund that will deliver more than $US1 billion to Pennsylvania to reclaim the most dangerous abandoned minesites.
