MSHA opening new mine rescue center in western Kentucky

September 17, 2015 Barry Cassell Generation

To enhance its mine rescue capabilities throughout the U.S., the Mine Safety and Health Administration said on Sept. 16 that it will open its newest mine rescue station in Madisonville, Kentucky, on Sept. 18.

The facility will serve mining operations in the Midwest in the event of a mine emergency, and joins similar emergency response stations in Beckley, West Virginia; Pittsburgh; and Price, Utah. Madisonville is in Hopkins County, a center for coal production in western Kentucky, which is part of the Illinois Basin coal-producing region.

Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health, other MSHA officials, and representatives from Alliance Coal, Alpha Natural Resources and Kentucky’s Division of Mine Safety, will deliver brief remarks. Alliance Coal is a major producer in western Kentucky and more broadly in the Illinois Basin.

The Madisonville station will house a fully equipped mine emergency unit team truck, surface communication system, a first response underground communication system, infrared gas monitoring and a mobile gas chromatograph laboratory.

About Barry Cassell 20414 Articles

Barry Cassell is Chief Analyst for GenerationHub covering coal and emission controls issues, projects and policy. He has covered the coal and power generation industry for more than 24 years, beginning in November 2011 at GenerationHub and prior to that as editor of SNL Energy’s Coal Report. He was formerly with Coal Outlook for 15 years as the publication’s editor and contributing writer, and prior to that he was editor of Coal & Synfuels Technology and associate editor of The Energy Report. He has a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University.