[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16546-16547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-07934]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Petitions for Modification of Application of Existing Mandatory
Safety Standard
AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice is a summary of petition for modification
submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the
parties listed below.
DATES: All comments on the petition must be received by MSHA's Office
of Standards, Regulations, and Variances on or before May 20, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments, identified by ``docket
number'' on the subject line, by any of the following methods:
1. Email: [email protected]. Include the docket number of the
petition in the subject line of the message.
2. Facsimile: 202-693-9441.
3. Regular Mail or Hand Delivery: MSHA, Office of Standards,
Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite 4E401,
Arlington, Virginia 22202-5452, Attention: Sheila McConnell, Director,
Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances. Persons delivering
documents are required to check in at the receptionist's desk in Suite
4E401. Individuals may inspect a copy of the petitions and comments
during normal business hours at the address listed above.
MSHA will consider only comments postmarked by the U.S. Postal
Service or proof of delivery from another delivery service such as UPS
or Federal Express on or before the deadline for comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara Barron, Office of Standards,
Regulations, and Variances at 202-693-9447 (voice),
[email protected] (email), or 202-693-9441 (fax). [These are not
toll-free numbers.]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety
and Health Act of 1977 and Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations
Part 44 govern the application, processing, and disposition of
petitions for modification.
I. Background
Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
(Mine Act) allows the mine operator or representative of miners to file
a petition to modify the application of any mandatory safety standard
to a coal or other mine if the Secretary of Labor (Secretary)
determines that:
1. An alternative method of achieving the result of such standard
exists which will at all times guarantee no less than the same measure
of protection afforded the miners of such mine by such standard; or
2. That the application of such standard to such mine will result
in a diminution of safety to the miners in such mine.
In addition, the regulations at 30 CFR 44.10 and 44.11 establish
the requirements and procedures for filing petitions for modification.
II. Petition for Modification
Docket Number: M-2019-001-M.
Petitioner: Genesis Alkali, LLC, 1801 Wewatta St., Suite 1000,
Denver, Colorado 80202.
Mine: Genesis Alkali @WESTVACO, MSHA I.D. No. 48-00152, located in
Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
Regulation Affected: 30 CFR 57.22305 (Approved equipment (III
mines)).
Modification Request: Petitioner seeks to allow for the
installation of one or more submersible pumps at Westvaco mine. The
first pump would be installed at Westvaco's Extraction Well #5 (EW#5).
The petitioner states that:
(1) Westvaco is an underground trona mine. Since 1988, underground
tailings disposal and secondary resource recovery have been part of the
mining operation. Sections of mine workings have been abandoned and
flooded with water/tailings. There is no access to these areas by
miners due to the topography of the mine. As the tailings dewater in
the mine, the water becomes a solution that recovers trona left by the
room and pillar mining techniques employed in these abandoned areas.
(2) Petitioner plans to install submersible pumps through wells
from the surface to access this impounded trona-bearing liquor. The
pumps will be strategically placed in the topographically lowest
developments to ensure a flooded condition. Westvaco currently has
monitor wells near these areas which indicate the areas are flooded
with water completely. As further assurance of flooded conditions, the
wells will be drilled through the mine floor to countersink the pumps
an additional depth to ensure the pumps' intakes and motors remain
below the mine floor. The pump motors, by design, are positioned below
the pump intake to prevent the pump from drying the hole out.
Specifically, the pump system's design ensures that the electrical
components will be submerged, preventing their exposure to the mine's
ambient air.
(3) The proposed pump system at Westvaco will be installed from the
surface. The pump system(s) will be lowered underground via EW#5, into
the northwest area of Westvaco that is permanently abandoned and has
been inactive for more than twenty years. EW#5 is approximately 10,200
feet away from the nearest hoist and travelway. The distance between
EW#5 and the areas of Westvaco where miners will be working and
traveling is at least 15,000 feet, if not more.
(4) After the bore mining and longwall operations in the northwest
corner of Westvaco had finished, petitioner intentionally flooded that
area in the mid 1980s. By flooding that area, petitioner can engage in
liquid/solution mining to recover trona from the gob. The topography of
the mine area allows water levels in the flooded area to be deep enough
to ``top out'' against the roof, effectively filling the entire region
of the abandoned mine area. Along with this water barrier, petitioner
installed barricades (stoppings) on the flooded area's perimeter. The
barricades are comprised of 6'' x 8'' x 24'' wood blocks, installed
rib-to-rib and floor-to-roof. Petitioner uses foam sealant around the
edges of each barricade. Therefore, there are two physical designs--the
wooden blocks and the impoundment--to prevent miners from accidentally
or intentionally accessing the permanently abandoned area from the
active longwall and bore miner operations.
(5) The submersible pump systems will be installed from the surface
into the permanently abandoned, flooded areas. Westvaco miners will not
be involved in the extraction of the trona solution because they cannot
access the area due to the water levels and the barricades.
(6) The permanently abandoned area at Westvaco is not ventilated;
therefore, the air current(s) at Westvaco do not flow through the area.
In addition, there are several factors that would inhibit any
accumulated methane that was in the abandoned area from entering the
fresh air current at Westvaco.
These factors are:
--The impounded area is unventilated, meaning the airflow in that
location will fluctuate as a function of temperature and pressures of
the
[[Page 16547]]
ambient air. This unventilated area borders the return air-courses of
the active mine. Any gases that emit from the abandoned area will be
carried to an exhaust vent shaft and removed from the mine--never
reaching any active work areas or areas not already maintained to
function in a gassy environment.
--Westvaco's active workings receive forced air from the surface. This
mechanical ventilation creates a positive pressure environment that
impedes the air in the impounded area from migrating through the
barricades.
--The abandoned area is flooded, creating a liquid barrier between the
submersible pump components and the ambient air.
(7) The physical design of the submersible pump system places the
intake nozzle above the pump system's electrical components. The
system's low water level shutoff sensor is a permissible component, and
is positioned 15 feet above the pump's intake nozzle. The result of
this design ensures that the electrical components will always be
submerged, preventing their exposure to the ambient air. Because the
non-permissible components will always be submerged, liquid barrier
ensures that non-permissible equipment is not used in areas where
methane may enter the air current.
(8) The pump system(s) will be in locations that are inaccessible
by miners and the pumps operate autonomously, with remote control
possible from the surface.
(9) Petitioner proposes to install autonomous equipment into a
permanently abandoned area to support its milling activities on the
surface. The petitioner states that if it is forced to undertake an
alternative extraction method for the trona solution, the non-
autonomous solution will likely require miners to be involved in the
extraction which is less safe than an autonomous operation that only
requires miners on the surface. The use of automated, submersible pump
systems allows petitioner to avoid exposing miners to hazards
associated with underground mining.
(10) The submersible pumps and technological upgrades that
petitioner intends to install to perform liquid mining in underground
impounded areas where no miners are present will provide a greater
measure of safety than would be provided by having miners working in
these areas who would then be exposed to the potential hazards of
underground mining. Moreover, the use of automated, submersible pumps
to transport a liquid trona solution to the surface for refining will
not result in a diminution of safety compared to traditional
underground mining activities.
The modification requested in this petition provides the same or
greater degree of protection to persons underground as would be
afforded by other methods of compliance and avoids reducing safety by
the use of other methods.
Sheila McConnell,
Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances.
[FR Doc. 2019-07934 Filed 4-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4520-43-P