Approximately 10:30 Wednesday night, nine Pennsylvania coal miners got caught in a cave-in at the Que Creek mine in Somerset County (60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh) after they accidentally drilled into an adjacent mine and released millions of gallons of water into their own shaft. An estimated 50 to 60 million gallons of water as cold as 50 degrees Fahrenheit rushed into the mine from the...

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board began operations in 1998 with the stated mission to promote the prevention of major chemical accidents at fixed facilities. The independent, scientific investigative agency's Web site contains historical and current data, reports, and other information on chemical accidents from around the nation. For example, on September 13, 2002, a chemical...