Vincennes University spending $2M on coal mining safety

FORT BRANCH, Ind. (AP) - Vincennes University is moving ahead with construction of a $2.1 million coal mining safety training center despite concerns about the coal-mining industry's future.

The trustees awarded a construction contract last week for the 40,000 square-foot training facility at its Fort Branch campus, located in the heart of Indiana's coal country.

School officials say the training center will also be able to train limestone and metal miners and firefighters.

But school trustee Susan Olesick tells the Vincennes Sun-Commercial (http://bit.ly/2aOJSeN ) she expects many of Indiana's coal mines won't be in operation in a decade. And fellow trustee Reggie Henderson says he's worried the industry will "continue to dwindle down."

School President Chuck Johnson says the university still trains thousands of miners each year in coal mining safety despite the industry's steady decline.

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Information from: Vincennes Sun-Commercial, http://www.vincennes.com