Abandoned mine shafts

Question

Does anybody know if all the abandoned mine shafts in the U.S. are recorded on a map somewhere? Seems like the type of info some federal agency would keep in their records.
Has there ever been a government program to make sure the old mining installations get filled in, or do they just lie down there, miles and miles of underground tunnels going nowhere?
Lois

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Does anybody know if all the abandoned mine shafts in the U.S. are recorded on a map somewhere? Seems like ... mining installations get filled in, or do they just lie down there, miles and miles of underground tunnels going nowhere?[/nq]
Isn't there a Bureau of Mines or somesuch?
I'd guess they'd know.
However, there is a Southeast Kansas phenomenon known as "Deep Shaft."

SEKansas is my old stomping grounds, home to a bunch of old bituminous coal mines. For a while they were deep shaft mines like the anthracite mines of the Appalachians, but later they became strip mines. Some of the old shafts were taken over by moonshiners who sold their goods in Oklahoma before the Sooner State finally legalized liquor sales (in the 1960s, I think).
When I worked in the Kansas Legislature (one of my college years), a politico from Pittsburg (an appropriately named town) brought in an old Seagram's 7 bottle with a rusty Pepsi-Cola cap. Its contents was clear as water. He said it was a bottle of authentic Deep Shaft moonshine.

The stuff must have been 300 proof. It still kicks, just thinking about it.

So maybe the Bureau of Mines didn't keep as close tabs on abandoned mines as they should have.
Joe Myers
"Kansas: The State the Sin forgot."

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Does anybody know if all the abandoned mine shafts in ... down there, miles and miles of underground tunnels going nowhere?[/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't there a Bureau of Mines or somesuch? I'd guess they'd know. However, there is a Southeast Kansas phenomenon known ... about it. So maybe the Bureau of Mines didn't keep as close tabs on abandoned mines as they should have.[/nq]For the most part, the Bureau of Mines is locally managed in their respective regions. This causes a ton of graft and mismanagement to Bubbas and their cousins- bribes all over the place to avoid costly OSHA regulations. Most mines are simply abandonned, the paperwork accepted as being accurate. Strip mines are sometimes reclaimed, but sometimes the mining company says the strip mine is still active even though no one is working - and they don't have to re-claim it yet.

In limestone mines - something they don't do much anymore, the ceiling is so sturdy that they have been reclaimed, and now have become repositories for records for big corporations and various government offices. I shot an annual report for IBM a while back, and they wanted me to go into one of these mines. In a mountain in western Pennsylvania - long winding tunnels, big enough to drive a tractor-trailer rig through - well lit, then coming to individual rooms that were as big as a basketball court, paved and walled and climate controlled with filing cabinets that stretched to a vanishing point - all about three hundred feet below the surface and ready for nuclear winter.
SL
but I didn't come accross a shadow government - they were in the next mine over

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I read in the book "The Corporation" that the famous miners-trapped-in-water-underground thing happened only because of budget cuts to gov't agency (not sure which one) meant that maps weren't maintained, and the guys were digging or blasting 30 feet closer to an old tunnel or shaft than they thought they were. So you can have it either way, your mine shaft changed or off the records, or on the records and luckily still accurate...

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[nq:2]Does anybody know if all the abandoned mine shafts in ... down there, miles and miles of underground tunnels going nowhere?[/nq]
[nq:1]Isn't there a Bureau of Mines or somesuch?[/nq]
Land mines, sea mines, those spiky ones we used to see in WWII navy movies (Oh no - a mine field!), or just your standard strip mines/malls?

cd

The difference between immorality and immortality is "T". I like Earl Grey.

Abandoned mine shafts

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