Chronicles of a 21st Century Coal Miner

Perils of Mining

By July, Bob and I had finally cleaned up the #2 Belt Head. Tossing rock dust onto the mine floor we decided to lay it on thick to make it look it had snowed underground. With the head now cleaned, we were liberated to walk the belt line and spot clean the belts. At #4 Belt Head we found our old friend, Golden Boy the Fire Boss. His actual name was David, but Bob and I had started calling him Golden Boy between ourselves. He was a Preacher at a local church, his hard hat adorned with three crosses on the side and a “In God We Trust” sticker cut out on the other.

He was busy watching some of the section crew build a stopping. “Why don’t you get in there and help them, Deskins?” He volunteered.

Not wasting a second I dabbed a wad of plaster out of the bucket and smeared it over the face of the cinderblock. The stopping had taken weight and the cinderblock splintered and collapsed under the sheer weight of the mountain looming overhead.

“When you get done with that, I want you and Bob to come with me and set some timbers in the old East Mains,” he says, looking toward his mantrip on the track laden with timber.

I oblige, as if I had a choice in the matter. We head off to the East Mains. The coal seam height plummets from 8 feet to 6 feet. Being a tall coal miner is a curse. I’m squatting and dragging 100 pound log timbers behind me for what seemed like an eternity. Then the mountain opens up. Way up. I shine my light way into an abyss of darkness.

“What the hell happened here?” I question.

“Fell out.” David said, paying no mind to the abyss overhead.

“It has to be at least 100 feet!” Bob exclaims as he examines the abyss overhead.

The East Mains were extracted a decade prior. The mine struggled to make any money during this era, as they couldn’t keep the top supported. Finally around 2004, the decision was made to abandon mining the East Mains and head North into the area where we were actively mining at the time. There was a pipe dream that they could use the East Mains as a pathway into another coal seam below our mine. The plan never materialized, but it was everyone’s staying excuse. There was coal in these hills, and we were going to figure out how to get to it.

Every step deeper into the East Mains my nerves steadily increase. I had never had a problem being underground, but today I was seeing things that would make anyone uneasy. Freshly fallen boulders twice the size of a Dodge Ram. Wooden fences marked in chalk with “DANGER!” seemed to dead-end many entry ways, forcing us to snake around the East Mains, dodging a fallen rock here, an entirely blown out rib there. Finally we stopped. David looks up.

“This is it.” He examines.

I toss the timber onto its end. A little short. Bob is forthcoming with wedges to wedge the timber against the roof of the mine. As I drive the wedge, my mind wanders. What on Earth am I doing? I question to myself. This rock is probably the size of a house and I’m underneath it beating it with a hammer. This timber is just a toothpick to this behemoth.

I finish quickly and jump out of the cross cut, back into relative safety of undisturbed mine roof overhead. We move on and set five more. Finally we reach the end of the line, a lake of water.

“It’s roofed out from here on out.” David informs us.

“Still taking on Water?” I inquire.

“A little. It’s slowed way down over the last year or so. Was too close to the old Quinwood #3 mine, water leaked through the coal. We only run the slump pump a couple times a month.” He lectures.

The scene reminded me of the Pennsylvania rescue almost a decade before. I wondered how many mines existed in the state that were totally flooded, and how that water affects the water table in the State.

As we escape the East Mains, we meet the construction crew. They’re heading to the North Mains to begin building a new belt head.

“You weld, Deskins?” one asks.

I shake my head no, as if speaking to this guy was below my pay grade.

“Welp. You’re gonna learn!” he says, cracking a smile.

The Superintendent had gotten word of the finished #2 Belt Head, and wanted me to join the construction crew to build the belt head. I learned something genuine that day. The harder you work, the more they expect. Even if you’ve just witnessed the perils of mining.