Thursday, April 30, 2015

3 WORKERS INJURED, 2 CRITICALLY, BY COLLAPSE AT WESTMORELAND CO. QUARRY





APRIL 29, 2015

WHITNEY, PA. (AP)

Three workers have been hurt, two seriously, after ground moved at an underground limestone mine in western Pennsylvania.

Jeff Sieg, a spokesman for Lehigh Hanson, the mine's parent company, says the collapse inside the mine caused air to rush out of its entrance about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Three workers about to enter the Whitney quarry in Unity Township, Westmoreland County were hurt.

But Sieg says it's unclear whether they were harmed by being pushed back or knocked down by the rush of air, or whether they were hit by debris as a result, or both.

The workers were about 50 feet from the mine's entrance when they were injured.

Two were unconscious and flown to Pittsburgh hospitals while a third was taken by ambulance to a closer hospital nearby.

Channel 11’s Brandon Hudson talked with Anthony Matuszky, the chief of the Whitney-Hostetter Volunteer Fire Department.

He said the two workers who were flown to Pittsburgh “appeared to be in very serious condition,” while the third worker appeared to have a broken arm or shoulder.

Hudson also found the Whitney quarry had more than a dozen violations going back to 2012, while the most recent violation last month involved hazardous conditions and safety equipment defects.

Most of those violations have been assessed and fixed.