West Virginia Mine Explosion Investigator: Explosive Methane Levels Detected

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal official says a handheld meter found deep inside the Upper Big Branch mine detected explosive levels of methane before a blast killed 29 miners.

The handheld meter is the first piece of equipment showing explosive levels of methane in the mine at the time of the April 5 blast. The Mine Safety and Health Administration's Kevin Stricklin says the device detected 5 percent methane in the mine's atmosphere that day.

Methane only explodes when it makes up 5 percent to 15 percent of the atmosphere.

Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co. the mine's owner, has said that high methane levels just prior to the explosion overwhelmed safeguards.

A preliminary report issued by MSHA in April blamed methane and coal dust for the explosion.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Methane gas may be bubbling up in a flooded area of West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine where 29 men died in an April 5 explosion, a federal mine regulator said Wednesday.

Kevin Stricklin, an official with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said several feet of water have kept investigators from searching that area of the Massey Energy mine near where nine of the victims were found.

Stricklin said the bubbling water probably signals the presence of methane. But he cautioned that methane is frequently found seeping from coal seams in underground mines and that the explosion may not have begun there.

Officially, the cause of the explosion hasn't been determined, but MSHA said it suspected methane and coal dust in a preliminary report delivered last April to President Barack Obama.

Investigators have mapped about 90 percent of the mine even though water has kept them from searching two underground areas, said Stricklin, MSHA's administrator of coal mine safety and health.

Both areas are lower than surrounding areas of the mine and haven't been pumped out since the April 5 blast, he said, adding authorities hope to begin draining the larger of the two areas this week in seeking clues to the disaster.

The mine has about 12 miles of underground workings.

The agency has signaled much work remains in the investigation, including about 50 more interviews and testing on electrical equipment.

MSHA said it has interviewed 197 witnesses, collected hundreds of pieces of evidence, taken more than 3,000 photographs and tested 1,800 dust samples.

Comments

[bwenston42]

02:15 PM on 08/29/2010

I wonder why, a person of the people like Mr. Glenn Beck and his merry band Christian followers wouldn’t hold a riley in Charleston W. Virginia in support of coal miners being killed by the criminals at Massey Energy Co?

[Jerboy]

06:43 PM on 08/26/2010

Obviously, the problem was over-regulation. The solution? Extend the mine owner's tax cuts, of course.

[edgarcaycedoc]

06:13 PM on 08/26/2010

And in this one story you see the real reason Reagan wanted to dismantle the "intrusive government" of OSHA, and mining safety. If we knew the human cost behind our consumption of fossil fuels, we might be more amenable to alternative technologies.

[zlohcuc]

06:01 PM on 08/26/2010

"MSHA said it has interviewed 197 witnesses, collected hundreds of pieces of evidence, taken more than 3,000 photographs and tested 1,800 dust samples."

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Massey skates and large scale coal mining remains as dangerous as ever and environmentally toxic for years to come.

[rinpochet]

05:58 PM on 08/26/2010

Unless the punishment fits the crime (in this case manslaughter charges), the lives of miners will continue to be sacrificed for profit.

[Longtimeliberal]

05:54 PM on 08/26/2010

More abuse of workers. Also, suprise inspections are being done but some issues with minors being warned and MMS is investigating. This company and executives should go to jail for manslaughter.

[BBinMT]

05:52 PM on 08/26/2010

The lower explosive limit for methane is 5%. The mine was tested at 5% or above. Add in the fact that explosive dusts were in the atmosphere at the same time. No one should have been in that mine at that time, and it is obvious that it was not ventilated properly if at all.

[Mycatknowsbetter]

09:25 PM on 08/26/2010

Ventilation is only part of the solution, it would help dilute the methane. It would do nothing to mitigate the risk from excessive accumulations of coal dust in the underground environment. Plain and simple, in the end it costs too much to make the mine safe to work in. The owners will take the loss of workers and resulting legal repercussions simply a cost of doing business. When the "dust" settles, it will be business as usual.

[biabouman41]

05:50 PM on 08/26/2010

They found Blakenship??
No one item is generally responsible for an accident. there are likely to be several with this mine, including management skimping on safety.

[madisonhack]

05:38 PM on 08/26/2010

Plus, they weren't rock dusting at the face of the mine. That precaution has been done in union mines for as long as I can remember.

[J Accuse]

05:37 PM on 08/26/2010

So there was methane and coal dust, but what was the spark? There's no way to really be absolutely certain, but even if they could prove it, they'll never in a million years say that those hillbillies were smoking cigarettes down there, even though we all know that's exactly what happened. After all, they're "victims": victims of deregulation, victims of Massey Energy, and victims of that creepy right-wing country boy plutocrat Blankenship. All true, but I'm pretty sure they were also their own victims in the final analysis.

[captnEarl]

05:52 PM on 08/26/2010

I have NEVER seen anyone smoking in a mines other miners wouldn't put up with it most miner chew tobacco...sparks can come from any piece of many types of electrical equipment..if ventilation is at the level it was supposed to be it would have dulated the methane to where it couldn't explode

[J Accuse]

06:36 PM on 08/26/2010

I have personally caught hillbillies inside asbestos containments smoking (cigarettes AND pot). Not only were they not wearing their respirators as required by the law and basic common sense, they were inhaling carcinogens and intoxicants ON TOP OF carcinogens. Safety is not manly or macho. And we all know how "macho" famously gets people killed. Whatever doesn't immediately violently kill people, then they all think that they're immune. Do you suppose these miners know all about backdrafts and convection currents and exactly what air pressure explosions become a certainty? Because I know for a fact that even your local fire department - also macho manly-men prone to flaming deaths of their own making - doesn't know much about them.

[lonesometx]

05:59 PM on 08/26/2010

I seriously doubt that anyone was smoking in a "hot" mine like Big Branch. But I have no doubt that you know nothing about coal mines, miners and mining. Otherwise you would not be showing your ignorance with statements like, "we all know that's exactly what happened."

I guess you know for certain that an electrician was not forced to re-install a faulty cover on an explosion proof panel. I'm sure you know that none of the hundreds of other sources of ignition caused a spark.

I'm sure you are aware that the coal company, despite a dismal safety record, in this case did everything right and NEVER put profit ahead of miner's lives.

Yeah, you know that. And I know I'm the King of Spain...

[J Accuse]

06:28 PM on 08/26/2010

So if Massey did nothing wrong in this case and all the electrical equipment was properly installed and functioning, then what could have possibly caused the explosion? If your assertion is correct (although I'm not buying it), then it's a mathematical near-certainty that at least one of the deceased miners did something that sparked the explosion. Or someone dropped a torch down on them, which would make it homicide.

[sgraham59]

05:36 PM on 08/26/2010

When are they going to put Blankenship in PRISON????

[hellinahandcart]

06:06 PM on 08/26/2010

Yes give him a nice long sentence then offer to cut some off of it for him to tell which regulators took bribes. There's fault on both sides of this fence-- as well w/ the oil co.s and their regulators.
They all need to be held accountable.

[G52]

04:09 AM on 08/28/2010

NOT SOON ENOUGH!

[hillaryj]

05:32 PM on 08/26/2010

There is not cell too bad to lock this coal owner in, nor a sentence long enough for him!

[washlib]

05:28 PM on 08/26/2010

no, the cause was NEGLIGENCE to follow industry-standard monitoring and safety protocols. Put the owner IN JAIL.

[G52]

04:13 AM on 08/28/2010

Jail time should be mandatory with any decision!

[MetrointheWoods]

05:22 PM on 08/26/2010

A dear reader to Huff Post: move this posting. This, and every other posting dealing with the Upper Big Branch mine belongs in the crime section.

[blytzd]

05:29 PM on 08/26/2010

Yup, nothing green going on here.

[hillaryj]

05:31 PM on 08/26/2010

I totally agree................

[mariusvinchi]

05:19 PM on 08/26/2010

When can we, and the families of those sacrificed in the name of expediency and higher profit margins, expect to see manslaughter charges against Massey managers? Never?? That's what I thought! They will simply receive another round of fines that they will immediately appeal and likely never pay. Just like the other hundreds of fines for the very same thing that resulted in this explosion! Ain't the free market grand! I refer to the free market that allowed Massey to buy the best Judges in West Virginia...