Mine awaits state permit

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) -- Federal regulators have signed off on a plan to let work resume at a mine where nine men were trapped underground for 77 hours, but state regulators are still considering their permit. The Quecreek Mine flooded in July when miners broke through a wall into the adjacent Saxman Mine, a long-abandoned site filled with water. Nine of 18 miners underground at the time were unable to immediately get out and were trapped in a small air pocket before their rescue, which played out on national television. Mining by Black Wolf Coal Co., the contract mine operator, has been halted since.