A damned dangerous recovery dive this weekend :

[truckinbutch]

We had a tragedy last Friday not far from my home in WV . An embankment along a 72 acre coal slurry impoundment collapsed under a dozer and 2 pickups during a construction project .
The two guys in the pickups were rescued .
The dozer operator has not been found . The dozer has been located under 35' of sediment with 10' or so of water over that . No one knows if the operator is in the dozer or not . All week has been spent trucking in barge sections and assembling them for crane working platforms .
> The plan is to sink a 20' diameter steel column to the dozer location . It will be rigged with water jets at the bottom to dislodge slurry sediment and evacuate it via reverse circulation through the column . Then a dive team will descend the water column to attempt the recovery .
Zero visibility and total darkness in a thick , viscous medium that will continue seeping in on them .
>A dive team was flown in from Louisiana to attempt this task . They have been prepping by learning every part of a similar dozer by feel . No one knows if it is upright , upside down , or on it's side . Or where the operator is .
>Not necessarily in keeping with most topics posted here . I simply thought that these heroes needed a little more recognition than they are getting from our local media that don't understand the risks they are taking .
Jim

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

Scary stuff, for sure!
Jim

 

[Jason in Enid]

Damn that sucks. Prayers for the missing man's family, as well as for the dive team who attempt the recovery.

 

[truckinbutch]

Much of the media here is coal company controlled so information is limited . From experience with this company ; they are trying to downplay this .
If they can recover their dozer they will be happy . If the operator is recovered with it , that's a bonus . If not : they will try to deem the body unrecoverable .
They resumed production last night at that mine ..... Including preparation plant operations that will continue to dump water and slurry into that lake .
I hope those divers get in and out safe .

 

[XLTer]

Prayers for the families and rescue workers involved .

I understand what you mean about companies like that . ( Profits before People ) I happen to work for a company with the same attitude . Safety programs are just to keep the insurance rates down .

 

[truckinbutch]

Prayers for the families and rescue workers involved .

I understand what you mean about companies like that . ( Profits before People ) I happen to work for a company with the same attitude . Safety programs are just to keep the insurance rates down .

Yep ! And you know what CONSOL is going to do :
If they can get a crane hook on that dozer and suck it out of there and the operator is in it ,that will be great !
> If he isn't ; CONSOL will dedicate that memorial 'lake' to the unrecovered miner , rather than spend the money to find his body .
No hype on my part . I've been there ; lived that .

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Sad news indeed, most accidents like this are preventable if the proper inspections and maintenance are done. I am sure the company will try and put the blame on the dozer operator.
The divers have there work cut out for them, I hope they can pull it off with out any more loss of life.
ZDD

 

[truckinbutch]

Sad news indeed, most accidents like this are preventable if the proper inspections and maintenance are done. I am sure the company will try and put the blame on the dozer operator.
The divers have there work cut out for them, I hope they can pull it off with out any more loss of life.
ZDD

So do I . They were supposed to start diving in the tube today . News reports are very limited . Dominion Post and WAJR radio have about the best coverage .

 

[ivan salis]

HOOVER DAM IS FULL OFTHE BODIES OF WORKERS "LOST" WHILE BUILDING IT == if you screwed up and fell into the cement during one of the huge "pours" , too bad for you --you were just "wrote off" as unrecoverible * as soon as it occured

 

[Lafitte Deux]

I read yesterday that divers have recovered the body.

 

[Jason in Enid]

HOOVER DAM IS FULL OFTHE BODIES OF WORKERS "LOST" WHILE BUILDING IT == if you screwed up and fell into the cement during one of the huge "pours" , too bad for you --you were just "wrote off" as unrecoverible * as soon as it occured

Completely false! This has been proven many times to be a complete hoax.