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Two Canadian Paramedics Perish in Mine Rescue Attempt

May, 23 2006

(KIMBERLEY, B.C.) - A deadly but common gas appears to have killed four people in a decommissioned mine, taking out first a mining contractor, then the worker who went looking for him and two paramedics who tried to save them both. The tragedy began two days ago when a contractor went to test acid-tainted water at a pumping station as part of the mine's reclamation, RCMP say. ''He didn't return but that wasn't reported to anybody that I'm aware of until someone went looking for him this morning,'' said Cpl. Chris Faulkner. An employee of Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TEK.SV.B), which owns the old Sullivan mine in this southeastern British Columbia town, discovered the missing contractor floating in the well of the above-ground pump house. The employee called 911 and when two paramedics from the B.C. Ambulance Service responded, he led them on a rescue mission, Faulkner said. The paramedics didn't put on their protective gear. When members of the Kimberley Fire Department arrived, they rushed to put on masks and hauled out three bodies, leaving one behind. The three were transferred to hospital, but all were pronounced dead, Mayor Jim Ogilvie said. The fourth body remained at the mine site, which the coroner declared unsafe. Some residents of the picturesque community were stunned not only at the loss of four members of their community, but also by the way they seem to have died. ''I couldn't believe it,'' said one woman working late Wednesday night at a downtown crafts store who declined to give her name. ''It was terrible that the other three went in there. They shouldn't have gone down there. ''Everybody's going to be mourning. Everybody knows everybody here.'' The town was once heavily dependent on the mine but now is more reliant on the longtime Bavarian decor that graces most of the touristy downtown area around the Platzl. Kimberley has for years attracted tourists with the German theme around its commercial core and is a winter mecca for skiers. Outside Chef Bernard's on the Platzl, Steve and Sarah Salgado sat in their truck and worried about the town's reactions once the identities of the deceased were released. ''They were all from Kimberley so everyone will be shocked,'' said Steve Salgado, who used to live in Kimberley and was back visiting from Alberta. The killer is believed to be hydrogen sulphide, a toxic gas fatal in minute quantities, and the incident has prompted questions about why paramedics didn't suit up properly and whether safety measures failed. The organization Minesafe describes hydrogen sulphide (H2S) as a colourless gas with a sweet taste and a powerful, unpleasant smell like rotten eggs. But nasal sensitivity to the odour decreases with continued exposure. ''The key is that at low concentrations you smell it,'' said B.C. geologist Cassandra Hall, who was trained on its hazards while working in the Alberta oil sands. ''At high concentrations you don't smell it anymore. Your sensitivity is overwhelmed.'' Known as sour gas, it occurs naturally but is highly poisonous and acts like hydrogen cyanide by interfering with the body's ability to use oxygen. It can cause eye and lung irritation in atmospheric concentrations between 20 and 50 parts per million and be lethal at 500 parts per million, causing rapid loss of consciousness and early death. ''It's usually more related to coal and where there's a high sulphur content,'' said Hall. Mines with sour gas problems are generally equipped with detectors, ventilation equipment and personnel trained to respond in emergencies, she said. ''I would have thought there would be some detection mechanism in the pumping station if H2S was an issue before,'' said Hall. She said trainees are warned not to rush to the aid of someone overcome by the gas. ''Someone looking at you may not know what is happening to you because if you just lose consciousness, they would go to help you,'' said Hall. ''We were told never to help someone until we suited up.'' WorkSafe B.C., the province's workers compensation board, has extensive rules on working in confined spaces and around dangerous emissions. A WorkSafe spokeswoman said mine sites fall under the jurisdiction of the mine ministry's safety inspector, who was flying to the site Wednesday. Teck Cominco issued a statement calling the events ''heartbreaking.'' Don Lindsay, the company's CEO, said the company has staff on site, including an emergency response team from Trail. The site has been secured and there is no risk to the public, the company said. ''We are working with the various regulatory agencies to determine what led to this situation today and we will co-operate with them fully in their continuing investigation,'' said Lindsay. Bill Bennett, B.C.'s minister of state for mines, and Health Minister George Abbott also flew to Kimberley on Wednesday afternoon. ''This is an absolute horror what happened today,'' a subdued Bennett, who represents a Kootenay riding near the mine site, said in Victoria. Abbott said he went directly to the hospital in nearby Cranbrook to meet with emergency room doctors and nurses. ''We really wanted to thank them,'' said the minister. ''They came together quite remarkably. Doctors were phoning in to come in and help. It was really quite amazing. He said when he met with the medical personnel ''there were a lot of tears in the eyes. These were two paramedics who had been in the hospital delivering patients in the last few days so they knew the deceased very well and they are terribly upset.'' He said it was too early to know ''why the situation evolved the way it did.'' He said the paramedics had training ''with respect to enclosed spaces but there is so much factual information to be put together in terms of how all of this evolved.'' Ogilvie said all four victims were from Kimberley, a mountain community of about 6,600 about 500 kilometres east of Vancouver. ''Four deaths in a community our size is a very serious situation,'' he said. ''There'll be no one that isn't touched in some way by this accident.'' The Sullivan lead-zinc mine closed officially on Dec. 21, 2001, after 92 years of production. At its peak, it employed more than 2,000 people but Ogilvie said the workforce was down to 700 to 800 just before it closed. Teck Cominco's web page for the underground mine said it produced more than $20 billion in lead, zinc and silver. The deposit was discovered in 1892 and was acquired in 1909 by Cominco Ltd. After the closure, Teck Cominco began extensive decommissioning and reclamation that it said ''will enhance the company's reputation for environmental responsibility.'' The decommission process, including land reclamation, removal of unused buildings and health and environmental assessments, was largely over. But Ogilvie said Teck was expected to maintain the system that collected and pumped acid-drainage water from the disused mine indefinitely. Teck's website said the underground mine dewatering system collects contaminated water and sends it for treatment and final discharge into the St. Mary River. The plant treats contaminated water associated with acid rock drainage. It had two operating campaigns in the spring and fall of 2004. Teck said effluent discharge during those periods met all provincial permit requirements.

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