I am one of those folks who is attracted to abandoned things … including buildings, mines, and anything that is old, once used, and long since forgotten. I also know the danger, but the pull is in me. What I never thought of was the presence of Javelina!

In any case, I once worked for a County Agency which did outside “field inspections” and I can assure you that whatever their staffing numbers, its twice what they need. I was acquainted with other folks in similar agencies of other Counties and they confirmed my own experience. Any time you have “inspectors” that are driving around in their own civilian clothes without any GPS type of tracking system, those folks are NOT doing their job half of every day. Even in the office, they’re chatting away rather than focusing on the duty they get paid to perform.

If you think that I am exagerating, I can only say you are naive like most of the general public and that is exactly why Local and State Government operate so poorly. People just don’t realize how little there is to keep the public employee focused and performing his “inspector” job.

You saw it yourself. Out of hundreds of mines that you have seen, you only have seen evidence ONE TIME of an official mine inspector having visited a site. Now, multiply that times all the mines and all the “inspectors” out there roaming around and you’ll get the idea. Half the time, literally, they’re visiting with friends somewhere and hanging out. I even met one guy whose routine was to check into work, head out into the “work”day…… and promptly ditch his County vehicle and engage in a landscaping business somewhere at a distance…. then go home, shower, and return back to his office to “clock out.”

Until the Government initiates the same type of personnel controls that the private sector has (i.e. UPS, FedEx, Phone companies), I wouldn’t vote to increase funding to mitigate the mine problem.

That said, I did read of a very interesting method used by some State Agency to plug mine shafts that were so close to highways as to be a menace to highway maintenance crews. They successfully experimented with using a type of expanding, hard foam rather than cement to fill the shaft (pumped in by fire hose sized equipment). It was fast, effective, inexpensive, and then they capped the top with concrete. All done within a matter of hours. No need to fill an entire shaft with concrete and rock. That idea is the best I’ve seen.

One other interesting note. I just spoke to a Park Ranger at a State Park who advised me to be wary of hiking off trail in his park due to unmarked mines. He said they intentionally didn’t put them on park maps because they didn’t want to reveal the location to the curious folk (such as myself). On the other hand, the potential for off trail hikers to fall in was clear in my mind. When I asked if the Rangers checked the shafts now & then to ensure people were not falling in, he said “no.” He also claimed the Bureau of Mines didn’t have funding. I didn’t debate him.

But I know better. Government is an expert at talking and having meetings and conferences without getting the job done. Plugging one mine a week is better than saying, ” We need to get a better handle on the number of mines we are looking at.” Talk is cheap. Government field workers need to be better monitored so that the public can feel assured that despite limited financial resources, AT LEAST SOME OF THE MINES ARE BEING DEALT WITH EACH WEEK.