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Consol believes it has put out mine fire on Pa-WVa border
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Consol Energy said it believes it has extinguished the underground mine fire along the Pennsylvania -West Virginia border that it has been battling for 10 days.
The fire it its Blacksville No. 2 mine was discovered March 12.
According to a Consol release this afternoon, the company has completed development of a mine reentry plan. That plan is under review by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and state and United Mineworkers union officials.
Lynn Seay, a Consol spokeswoman, said the company is "confident" the fire is out, based on its monitoring of gases in the mine.
As a precaution, it will continue to monitor the mine atmosphere over the weekend to determine when it is safe to reenter the mine.
The fire has idled 650 workers since it was discovered.
First Published March 21, 2013 3:45 pm
