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 Post subject: Coal mine tour opening delayed
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 5:43 am 
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Location: Anthracite Region of PA
Coal mine tour opening delayed


By David Singleton (Staff Writer)

Published: April 1, 2014

The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour will miss its scheduled opening today.

The completion of necessary maintenance will postpone the start of the attraction's 2014 season by about two weeks, Bill Davis, deputy director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, said Monday.

The mine, which is typically open from April 1 through Nov. 30, is now tentatively set to open April 15, he said.

"We have to have the maintenance done prior to opening," Davis said. "It's just a safety factor. We have to make sure it's safe."

Two part-time seasonal employees who perform underground maintenance at the mine during the off-season predicted last month the tour would not open April 1 after county officials capped their hours at 15 hours per week. At the time, Davis downplayed the concerns.

On Monday, he acknowledged the cutback in hours may have played a small role in delaying the opening, but said it was mostly due to jobs taking longer than expected to finish.

The work still in progress includes the replacement of a number of props, such as the timbers that support the mine roof, he said. Although the county knew props had to be replaced, the number was "more than what we anticipated," he said.

Inspectors from the state Bureau of Mine Safety who visited the mine Thursday cited the replacement of the props as one of the tasks that needed to be completed before the tour can open, Davis said.

The mine has about 10 group tours, mostly for schoolchildren, scheduled over the next two weeks, he said. Officials will try to reschedule them later in the spring.

"We like to open on time, but April really is a slower month for us," he said. "It would be more crucial for us if it were May through the summer. Those are our busiest months."

The delay comes as the county searches for a new mine foreman to supervise the operation.

Thomas P. Supey Jr., 62, who along with his father, Thomas Sr., was instrumental in getting the attraction open in 1985, notified the county last month that he is retiring, effective next Tuesday.

Davis said county officials are interviewing applicants for the position this week. The pool of potential candidates is limited because state law requires the job to be filled by a certified mine foreman.

"Typically, if we have a position open, we'll get 50 to 100 candidates. With this, we have probably had less than 10," Davis said.

The county hopes to have the new foreman hired by next week, he said.

Supey has "basically said he'll stay until we can find somebody to take over" and will assist with the transition, Davis said.

dsingleton@timesshamrock.com

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 Post subject: Re: Coal mine tour opening delayed
PostPosted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:43 pm 
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Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:09 pm
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Location: Forty Fort, Pa
:lol: :lol: :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: Coal mine tour opening delayed
PostPosted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 9:12 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
Well sounds like they got half the story right.....

http://wnep.com/2014/04/25/lackawanna-c ... ter-delay/

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 Post subject: Re: Coal mine tour opening delayed
PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 12:52 am 
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Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:09 pm
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Location: Forty Fort, Pa
Oh brother, what a lying idiot.

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