Feds dispute claim of big floor crack in W.Va. mine
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Federal mine safety officials investigating the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster today disputed claims by the mine's owner that there is a lengthy crack in the mine floor that could have let in a rush of methane, triggering the fatal April 5 explosion.
"There was nothing close to 150 feet," said Kevin Stricklin, safety chief for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. He spoke to reporters this morning during a conference call along with MSHA chief Joe Main.
Mr. Stricklin said investigators have found small cracks in the floor of the mine's longwall section.
Massey Energy, the mine's owner, last week briefed families and, according to accounts of the gathering, said a 150-foot crack was found in the floor around the longwall, a possible location for the blast's origins. The explosion at the Montcoal, W.Va., mine, thought to have been triggered by methane gas, killed 29 miners.
"What we have seen is floor heaving, which is what we would expect to see with longwall mining, but we have not seen any massive crack," Mr. Stricklin said.
Both Mr. Stricklin and Mr. Main said they are refraining from discussing too many specifics of the investigation before they reach conclusions. Mr. Stricklin said they are about halfway done with the underground portion of the investigation.
But MSHA's hand often has been forced by information coming from mine owner Massey, which has released snippets from the investigation with its own spin. Massey's scenario contends that a sudden burst of methane overwhelmed the safety instruments and caused the explosion. Investigators believe that a combination of methane and coal dust caused the massive blast -- but Mr. Stricklin pointed out that wouldn't excuse the mine operator from blame.
The mine still must be ventilated well enough to carry away methane, it must be rock dusted to prevent coal dust from getting into the air, proper pre-shift examinations must be done, and equipment must be operated properly in order to not give off sparks.
"Those are four key components that we stand by, and we don't think explosions need to occur anywhere," Mr. Stricklin said.
Mr. Main said investigators have interviewed 166 witnesses. After some of the low-level mine employees did not show up voluntarily, investigators started to issue subpoenas to all of the witnesses.
The subpoenas are now going out to management-level Massey employees, but the MSHA officials declined to say if they plan to interview Massey CEO Don Blankenship.
First Published August 11, 2010 11:03 am
