Miners remain idle while mine fire continues to burn
EIGHTY-FOUR – CONSOL Energy Inc. Monday idled 250 miners who had been helping to lay pipeline and install pumps at Mine 84, where a mine fire has been burning since Jan. 6. CONSOL Vice President Tom Hoffman said there are still about 120 union members working at the mine along with some management personnel. The mine, located 35 miles west of Uniontown, normally employs 494 people.
CONSOL brought in 10 mine rescue teams from its mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky shortly after the fire began in the belt line entry to the mine.
“All the mine rescue crews are still on the scene,” Hoffman said. Crews had planned to build dams on either side of the last section of the fire over the weekend and flood the area to quench the remaining fire, but Hoffman said the ribs between the mine shafts weren’t strong enough to allow crews to use that method.
The fire, which was once about 200 feet long, is now confined to an area about 45 feet long, Hoffman said. According to Hoffman, there is a pile of rubble 16 to 20 feet tall where the roof caved in that is the last section smoldering.
“We’ve drilled bore holes at regular intervals in this big pile of rock and coal so we have water in the center of it and not just on the edges,” Hoffman said. “This is probably where the fire started.” Hoffman said the miners will remain idled until the fire is out and the site can be inspected to determine how the fire began. Once those steps are taken, the miners will be called back to begin the restoration and reconstruction phase. Hoffman said mining should be able to start with continuous miners, machines that use a toothed cylinder to open new passages in preparation for longwall mining even before longwall operations can be restarted.
Hoffman said there is no way to know how long it will take to cool down the pile of rubble. Mine officials, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Mine Safety and Health Administration are monitoring conditions at the mine. A reduction of carbon monoxide levels and an increase in hydrogen levels will indicate that the fire is out.