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Work To Resume At NY Salt Mine Where 17 Workers Got Stuck

Salt Mine in Mount Morris, New York.

Mining operations are getting back underway at a central New York salt mine where 17 employees got stuck 900 feet underground in a malfunctioning elevator. 

Minneapolis-based Cargill says Monday the mine in Lansing has reopened and workers will spend several days inspecting equipment and performing other duties before underground mining resumes.

Mining has been halted since Jan. 7, when 17 miners starting their overnight shift got stuck on an elevator at the 900-foot level of the 2,300-foot-deep mine. It took crews using a basket lowered by a mobile crane up to 10 hours to rescue all the workers.

Company officials say a bracket on one of the lift's guide rails had broken, causing the elevator to become stuck.

The mine is the deepest salt mine in the United States.

© 2016 AP

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Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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