West Virginia MetroNews - Charleston, WV, USA
March 25, 2008
Federal mine regulators are expected to soon come out with a new rule for sealing abandoned sections of coal mines. MSHA has been working on the proposed rule for several months. West Virginia Mine Safety Director Ron Wooten says the state Mine Office plans to do an extensive review of the MSHA rule and then decide if it wants to propose additional requirements for coal operators in the Mountain State. Mine seals were spotlighted following the Sago Mine disaster. Seals made out of Omega Blocks weren't able to hold the force of the deadly explosion.
Director Wooten says there's a strong possibility the state will require what's called "blast seal mitigation." He says that's an effort to reduce the force of an explosion before it reaches the seals. "It's placing a barrier between what you would project to be the ignition or explosion area and the seal," Wooten told MetroNews. "You are trying to protect the seal from the blast force." Wooten says he expects coal operators would be required to construct seals that could withstand an explosion of more than 120 pounds of pressure per square inch. Wooten says the state Mine Safety Office is also seriously looking at ways in which ventilation could be used in an abandoned mine area instead of seals. He says in smaller operations ventilation may be a better option. "Where you have room and pillar mines or just some abandoned areas where they've run into adverse mining conditions, you may want to ventilate those areas instead of sealing them," Wooten said.