The museum has its own undersea coal mine, created by local miners just for the museum. They sold the coal they mined here to the local power plant, which supplies power to the U.S. East Coast, as well as Maritime Canada. Here we are getting ready to descend down to the mine.
Our guide down into the mind was Abbie, a 75 year-old retired miner with a ton of fascinating stories to tell. He started working in the mines as a teenager, as did his dad, granddad, and seven uncles. He is the only one to have lived long enough to retire. Here he's talking about the "pit ponies," the small horses kept in the mines six days a week in order to pull coal to the surface.
Some mines had underground gardens or mushroom "farms."
The mine ceiling is anywhere from 8 feet down to 4 feet high. Miners worked in seams as little as 18" high when the mine was active, and that was not uncommon in "real" mines. The mines were lined with timbers and iron beams, but it was still awfully cold and wet. I was really glad they issued us hardhats, as I bumped my head countless times. Allen was better at this stooping over business than I was.
Our guide, Abbie, at the end of our tour. He began working in the mines in early high school, when his family needed the money. He retired when the mines closed 15 years ago. At age 75, is the last surviving member of his mine work crew, most of whom died from black lung disease.
Allen met Bruce, a geologic engineer, at a concert. Bruce is a part of the team working on cleaning up one of Canada's worst-ever environmental sites, the Sydney Tar Ponds. He offered to give us a tour, and we accepted.
Most of the Sydney Tar Ponds have been cleaned up, or at least contained, and turned into a huge city park. Our guide/friend Bruce told us that when he first visited here years ago, he wore a full hazmat suit. Today he brings his young children here to play. Part of me is skeptical, part of me very much wants to believe this area is "cured."
Our guide down into the mind was Abbie, a 75 year-old retired miner with a ton of fascinating stories to tell. He started working in the mines as a teenager, as did his dad, granddad, and seven uncles. He is the only one to have lived long enough to retire. Here he's talking about the "pit ponies," the small horses kept in the mines six days a week in order to pull coal to the surface.
Some mines had underground gardens or mushroom "farms."
The mine ceiling is anywhere from 8 feet down to 4 feet high. Miners worked in seams as little as 18" high when the mine was active, and that was not uncommon in "real" mines. The mines were lined with timbers and iron beams, but it was still awfully cold and wet. I was really glad they issued us hardhats, as I bumped my head countless times. Allen was better at this stooping over business than I was.
Our guide, Abbie, at the end of our tour. He began working in the mines in early high school, when his family needed the money. He retired when the mines closed 15 years ago. At age 75, is the last surviving member of his mine work crew, most of whom died from black lung disease.
Allen met Bruce, a geologic engineer, at a concert. Bruce is a part of the team working on cleaning up one of Canada's worst-ever environmental sites, the Sydney Tar Ponds. He offered to give us a tour, and we accepted.
Most of the Sydney Tar Ponds have been cleaned up, or at least contained, and turned into a huge city park. Our guide/friend Bruce told us that when he first visited here years ago, he wore a full hazmat suit. Today he brings his young children here to play. Part of me is skeptical, part of me very much wants to believe this area is "cured."
The project is just....huge, a scary reminder of how we used to just dump our toxic industrial waste in the middle of town until we knew better.
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