Gas still keeping investigators out of W.Va. coal mine where explosion killed 29 workers

Gas still keeping investigators out of W.Va. mine

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — High levels of two potentially explosive gases have been detected inside the Upper Big Branch mine, and investigators now say it could be a month before they can get inside to determine what caused an explosion that killed 29 workers.

Neither ethylene nor acetylene is normally present in underground air, federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere said Friday. However, she said it’s not unusual to find them after an explosion.

The source is unclear, she said, but could mean that a fire is burning somewhere inside the Massey Energy mine in Montcoal, W.Va.

State and federal investigators met Friday and will begin work on a plan to diffuse the gases. However, it may be another month before teams can enter the mine, said Jama Jarrett, spokeswoman for the state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training.

Once state and federal teams devise a re-entry plan, they will present it to Massey, Jarrett said.

The prospect of a fire was first raised during the search and rescue operation that lasted several days after the April 5 explosion.

One way to extinguish a fire is to pump nitrogen into the atmosphere, rendering it inert, but Louviere said she does not know if there are plans to do that.

Another phase of the investigation is still on track: Interviews with witnesses are set to begin in two weeks in Beckley. State and federal inspectors who were in the mine before the blast are likely to be among the first interviews. Mine rescue teams who were underground will also be questioned.

Federal regulators have identified highly explosive methane gas, coal dust or a mixture of the two as the likely cause of the blast, but the ignition source is unknown.