GILLETTE, Wyo. – It’s National Miner Appreciation Day, and the Wyoming Division of Environmental Quality is honoring the dedication, hard work, and safety practices of the men and women in the Wyoming mining industry.
Today, Dec. 6, marks the 115th anniversary of the Monogah, West Virginia, disaster in 1907 that claimed the lives of 362 coal miners in a catastrophic explosion in the worst mining accident in history, according to DEQ.
“Recognizing this day each year offers a time to show appreciation to the mining country’s hard-working individuals and honor the contributions and sacrifices of miners across the country,” DEQ said, thanking the men and women in Wyoming for their efforts to make the state a principal producer of needed minerals for the United States.
Dec. 6 is also a day to recognize the efforts of the DEQ’s Land Quality Division and the Abandoned Mine Land Division, DEQ says, which says the LQD also thanks the mining industries for their world-class reclamation at Wyoming mining operations.
“Nobody does all the aspects of mining better in the world than Wyoming miners,” Kyle Wendtland, LQD administrator, said in a statement.
Additionally, the AML Division earned the prestigious Western Reclamation Award from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for their work at Hanna Elementary School and the adjacent high school football field and track in Carbon County, per DEQ.
