Consol making headway with Blacksville fire issues
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Consol Energy appears to be making headway in its effort to address issues at its Blacksville No.2 Mine where a fire broke out underground last month.
The company has completed an inspection of the entire mine and found no significant issues related to the mine’s safe operation, the company said Wednesday.
Consol teams continue work to construct seals to isolate the section of the mine that was affected by the fire.
The company still doesn’t know when the mine will be able to resume production, Consol spokeswoman Lynn Seay said in the email update.
The company has resumed the normal pre-shift examinations as well as the regular weekly airway inspections of the mine. Water has accumulated in several areas and approval was received to complete necessary electrical work to de-water those areas. The mine is now safe for travel on all haulage tracks, Seay said.
The company also continues to monitor gas levels in the mine, which remain at steady levels, and to maintain the water seals.
The fire was discovered March 12 when smoke was detected coming from the mine’s Orndoff shaft in Wayne Township. All underground employees were safely evacuated from the nearby Kuhntown Portal.
Mine rescue teams first entered the mine but withdrew after encountering heat and heavy smoke. Efforts to extinguish the fire were then conducted from the surface.
The company began pumping water into the mine through an existing borehole and drilled a number of other boreholes from the surface into the mine to pump water and inject nitrogen underground into the affected area and to monitor the mine atmosphere.
Additional boreholes were drilled to construct “isolation walls” in mine tunnels around the affected area to seal it off from the rest of the mine. Mine rescue teams were able to re-enter the mine on March 27.
The mine produces about 400,000 tons of coal a month and employs about 600 workers, who are represented by the United Mine Workers of America.
Officials from the Mine, Safety and Health Administration, West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training and UMWA also have assisted in the efforts.