Released Monday, August 31, 1998

MSHA Warns Parents of Dangers for Children at Active and Abandoned Mines

Summertime is marked by vacations, relaxation and outdoor fun. This year, however, several outdoor escapades around the nation have brought tragedy to young trespassers at mine properties:

-- A 16-year-old youth suffered fatal injuries after his all-terrain vehicle became airborne in an accident at a gravel mine near Albany, N.Y.

-- A young boy was electrocuted when he contacted a high power line while sliding down a stockpile at a sand and gravel mine in Grand Island, Neb., during its off-shift hours.

-- Three young sisters playing in an East Milton, Fla., clay pit became trapped when a 20-foot-high ledge collapsed during a rainstorm. All three died after being buried by dirt and boulders.

The hazards that endanger trespassers on mine property are numerous:

-- Children playing in or around ditches, excavations or piles of material risk being suffocated or crushed by cave-ins, slides or falling overhangs.

-- Trespassers who climb fences that surround mine property can fall, be cut or impaled by barbed wire, or receive an electrical shock.

-- Fishing around pilings and barges can lead to electrocution, slips, falls and drowning.

-- Drivers of all-terrain vehicles, off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles and four-wheel drive vehicles run the risk of encountering a hole, obstruction or sudden change in terrain.

McAteer urged parents to prevent their children from using mine sites as play areas and urged mine operators to make the sites less accessible. He suggested fencing, warning signs and monitoring cameras as ways to prohibit access. Warnings can be given in other ways, McAteer said, such as community meetings and educational programs in local schools.

"The death of any person on mining property is a tragedy, and the death of a child is a tragedy of the gravest proportion," said McAteer. "We must collectively do all we can to prevent any more of these accidents."

[See the MSHA Kids' Page on the Internet for more on the dangers of active and abandoned mines and quarries. The address is http://www.msha.gov/KIDS/KIDSHP.HTM]