October 9, 2007

Hello to all of the Geology and Planetary Science people, University of Pittsburgh,

I am still working at NIOSH in the Pittsburgh area. In response to the tragic accidents occurring in the U.S. coal mining industry over the past couple of years, several changes to the way coal is mined are coming and more may follow. These challenges have probably reached all who work in activities related to this industry. My coworkers and I have some new publications coming out in 2007 and 2008. There will be a NIOSH Information Circular out at the end of this year or early next year. It covers basically our most transferable project related research from a five-year effort begun shortly after completing my degree. See "Guidelines for the Prediction and Control of Methane Emissions on Longwalls" by S.J. Schatzel, C.Ö. Karacan, R.B. Krog, G.S. Esterhuizen, G.V.R. Goodman, if you have an interest. Also, my part-time work on sources for respirable silica dust has been documented and will be submitted to the International Journal of Coal Geology shortly. See "Identifying sources of respirable quartz and silica dust in underground coal mines", hopefully in 2008. Lastly, in 2008 we will be presenting and publishing our findings from a field study in scenic Southwestern Pennsylvania at the 12th North American/U.S. Mine Ventilation Symposium in Reno. That was a huge field effort for us and documents changing reservoir conditions in longwall panel overburden in response to mining.

Contact Information

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
NIOSH
P.O. Box 18070
Pittsburgh, PA 15236

412-386-6521
zia6@cdc.gov