A combination of poor training and an oxygen-deficient atmosphere killed four people at the decommissioned Sullivan lead/zinc mine in southeastern British Columbia in May. The dead included two paramedics responding to a call for help. Fred Hermann, BC's chief mine inspector, said he has never heard of a similar incident occurring in Canada or elsewhere in the world. A nearby waste dump that had been covered up in 2005 was decomposing and sending carbon dioxide and nitrogen into a nearby water-testing shed through a drainage pipe. Other employees had been working at the site for a week without any problems, but […]