Testing of air goes on at West Virginia mine

Associated Press

MONTCOAL, W.Va.

A federal safety official says more air testing is needed before rescue teams can head back into a West Virginia mine to look for four miners missing since an explosion killed 25 workers.

Federal coal-safety administrator Kevin Stricklin says levels of noxious gases had dropped but not enough for the crews to re-enter the Upper Big Branch mine late Thursday night.

He said sampling will continue. If levels do not drop by ventilation, crews will pump in nitrogen to neutralize the atmosphere.

Rescuers are eager to resume the underground search in the slim hope that the men made it to one of the rescue chambers in the mine.

Teams spent more than four hours working their way through the Upper Big Branch mine by rail car and on foot Thursday morning, but they had to turn back because of an explosive mix of gases in the area they needed to search.

Crews at the surface resumed drilling in an effort to get fresh air into the mine. Gov. Joe Manchin said Thursday evening that the levels were near those considered safe.

“We’re just moving as quickly as we can,” Manchin said. “We want to bring the loved ones back.”

Rescue teams had made it within 500 feet of an airtight chamber with four days’ worth of food, water and oxygen where they hoped the miners might have sought refuge Monday after the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades.

Chris Adkins, chief operating officer for mine owner Massey Energy Co., said the rescue teams were angry when told to abandon the mission, but their safety was paramount. He said the teams were off their feet and resting but too anxious to sleep.

Despite the increasingly slim chance of finding anyone alive, Adkins said he considered Thursday’s effort a rescue mission.

“I still believe in God, I believe, and I’m not gonna give up,” he said.

Manchin said the families of those stll in the mine were being patient.

“These are the strongest, toughest people I’ve ever seen,” he said. “These people can handle about anything you put up.”

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