Letter to Mine Rescue Team Trainers:

                                                                                                                                    February 25, 2010

Dear Mine Rescue Trainer,

We hope this correspondence finds you and your team well. With the 2010 Mine Rescue Competitions upon us, I would like to take a minute to enlighten you about the Mining Technology and Training Center (MTTC). Our 40,000 square foot simulated coal mine is located 5 miles north of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania just off Interstate 79 at Exit 19 Ruff Creek, Pennsylvania. Our Sim Mine has 6 entries and 7 crosscuts, along with 2 moveable overcasts, and an exhaust ventilation fan.

The facility is also equipped with a state of the art propane burn tunnel. This unit is capable of producing 2.8 million BTUs. Our other fire fighting features include a vehicle that is designed to simulate an underground personal carrier that is capable of burning in 5 different locations, and a concrete firefighting pad designed for hose management.

In addition to the Sim Mine, we have a 4 entry and 5 crosscut smoke maze, which is  equipped with an exhaust fan. Our MSHA certified instructors also use our smoke maze to train new inexperienced miners, teaching basic mine laborer type duties including building cribs, setting posts, following a lifeline in smoke, along with extensive classroom study. One other note on training, we also have a diesel lab equipped with a Deutz BF4L 2011engine in a classroom set up by our state and federal certified diesel instructor.

Another feature of our facility, that we are very proud of, is our fully equipped staging area. The current equipment which we make available to teams competing or training at our facility are as follows: oxygen pump station, wash basins for cleaning apparatus, 2 dryers, benching tables, and a freezer for storing ice. We can accommodate up to 10 teams in our new staging area.

On April 20, 21 and 22, 2010, we will be conducting the MTTC Pennsylvania Regional Mine Rescue Skills Contest. Teams will compete in a mine rescue problem, live burn, hose management, smoke maze, bench contest, written test, first aid and gas testing. The top finishing teams from this event will compete in October against other winning teams from across Appalachia in the Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Competition.

I am enclosing a DVD that highlights our facility and our 2009 events. If you have any questions, want to register for the 2010 event, want to train utilizing your own trainers, or perhaps allow our MSHA certified mine rescue trainers/judges to develop a customized mine rescue training exercise designed to meet your team’s needs, please contact Mike Reese at 724-627-6259 or by email at mttcmr@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Marlon Whoolery

Training Director