Buchanan, Va., mine remains closed as air monitoring
continues following roof-falls and possible fire
Saturday, Jul 28,
2007 - 12:30 AM
BY Kathy Still
Staff Writer
One of Virginia’s largest
underground coal mines remains closed as company and state regulators monitor
the air quality following a series of roof falls earlier this month that
possibly sparked a fire in a worked-out portion of the mine.
According to
information released from CONSOL Energy, air monitoring at the company’s
Buchanan Mine near Oakwood continues to show improvement. The mine has 62 monitoring
stations that measure gas levels in the mine. Carbon monoxide levels continue
to decline, which indicates no active fire remains in the mine, the company
said in a news release.
Company engineers
report that carbon monoxide is being swept from the mine’s active ventilation
system. Cameras inserted in more holes reveal no signs of smoke or fire in the
mine, the company said. Temperature levels in the mine appear normal, the news
release indicated.
CONSOL said engineers
have not found the source of the carbon monoxide, but speculate it could be
from small amounts of methane that possibly ignited from the July 9 roof falls.
None of the 120 employees who were working that day was injured. The mine was
evacuated as a precaution.
Earlier this month,
the company sent plans to federal and state safety agencies to drill additional
boreholes for more monitoring points. Inert gas is being pumped into several of
the holes as a precautionary measure.
Once all monitoring
stations show acceptable levels of the gases being monitored, and agency
approval is secured, teams can re-enter the mine.
Mike Abbott,
spokesman for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, said
Friday that nitrogen and water have been injected into selected boreholes to
extinguish any active or smoldering fire as well as to flush carbon monoxide
from the mine.
"As of this
morning, the company ceased the injection of water and nitrogen in order to
introduce a tracer gas into the mine that can be picked up at various sampling
locations throughout the mine," Abbott said Friday. "The purpose of
the tracer gas is to establish ventilation flow patterns. This would help
locate where the carbon monoxide is coming from, and from this determination,
where they need to drill more holes and/or inject additional water and
nitrogen."
