Fornits

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An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

I don't know how others feel about this, but I think that Wilderness Therapy should have it's own forum here at Fornits.

But that's just me.

Thoughts, etc?

Okay, this was originally posted in the Troubled Teen Industry forum, but because of excessive flaming/name-calling/other synonyms for immaturity, I've decided to repost here. (from a good suggestion from TSW, thank you!)

Original post:

"Okay, so my friend's mother is possibly sending her to wilderness therapy over the summer. She brought it up with me today at school, and I was a little shocked. I want to try to convince her mother NOT to send her (in the most rational and intelligent way possible) without sounding preachy or just trying to keep her daughter at home for the sake of our friendship. That's not the case at all, I'm just disgusted that wilderness therapy would even be considered, knowing my experience and of course, the experiences of others. I'm going to write her mother a letter, but how do you think I should do this?

I would love suggestions/topics to be covered in the letter. "

Thank you!

Rescuers' Efforts to Contact Trapped Miners Fail

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Associated Press

MELVILLE, W.Va. ? With the search for two missing miners partially blocked by the smoke and intense heat of an underground fire, rescue workers on the surface drilled down into a mine shaft in an effort to contact the missing men, but they got no response, officials said Saturday.

Nineteen miners escaped after a conveyor belt caught fire inside Aracoma Coal's Alma No. 1 mine Thursday evening, but two others never made it out.

On Saturday, the 41st hour passed without contact from the two missing men. That was how long it had taken rescuers less than three weeks earlier to reach 12 miners trapped in another West Virginia mine; only one of those miners survived.

Above the Alma mine, crews drilled a 200-foot hole to try to locate the missing miners by pounding on a steel drill bit and waiting for a response, but none came, said Jesse Cole, with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. A camera and a microphone lowered into the hole detected no sign of them, he said.

Rescue crews inside the mine still couldn't get beyond the burning conveyor belt because of the intensity of the heat, said Doug Conaway, director of the state's Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training.

"Part of the problem ... with the fire is we are having roof falls," Conaway said Saturday. "The heat from the fire is deteriorating the roof."

As the effort continued, relatives of the missing miners gathered in a church for regular updates from officials about their loved ones. The governor, a congressman and two widows of victims of the Sago Mine tragedy earlier this month tried to console them.

"It has been one big and close family that has been in the church for close to two days now," Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said Saturday.

He said officials had been forthright with the families and were briefing them regularly. "They have asked questions and they are truly truly praying at this point as we all are that their loved ones be returned to them as soon as possible," Rahall said.

The missing men were equipped with oxygen canisters that typically produce about an hour's worth of air, but officials said there were also pockets of good air inside the mine that they could have reached.

"I've got faith in the Lord and I've got faith in them. I believe if anybody can come out of it, they will," said John Goff, 45, of Logan, whose nephew was among 19 miners who escaped.

Gov. Joe Manchin said the families were hopeful, but knew "the odds are a little bit long."

Rescue efforts were hampered by heavy smoke that cut visibility to 2 to 3 feet, but teams were able to get into four tunnels, each about four miles long.

Officials emphasized that there were key differences between the Alma mine fire and the Jan 2. explosion at the Sago mine that led to the deaths of 12 miners. For one, the carbon monoxide levels, while higher than normal, were not as severe, Conaway said.

Also, the ventilation system continued to work at the Alma mine and no methane was detected coming out, said Robert Friend, acting deputy assistant secretary for MSHA.

That enabled rescuers to act more quickly than at Sago. The lone survivor from Sago, 26-year-old Randal McCloy Jr., remained hospitalized in a light coma Saturday.

Manchin hinted that he would eventually seek mine reforms but would not provide details. "As soon as this rescue operation is completed ... I will have a statement that will change mining, not only in this state but across the country," the governor said.

Conveyor belt fires can occur when belt rollers get stuck or out of alignment and rub against the structure supporting them, said John Langton, MSHA's deputy administrator for coal mine safety and health. Another possible cause is the accumulation of coal or coal dust.

The southwestern West Virginia mine, owned by Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy, received more than 90 citations from the Mine Safety and Health Administration in 2005. According to the MSHA Web site, the most recent were issued Dec. 20, when the mine was hit with seven violations for items such as its ventilation plan and its efforts to control coal dust and other combustible materials.

Jimmy Marcum, a 54-year-old retired miner from Delbarton, said better equipment is needed to protect miners.

"I mean, they can send a man to the moon but they can't make a (oxygen canister) that will last at least 16 hours. ... That's what they need to do," Marcum said.