MONTCOAL, W.Va. - Dozens of rescuers were trying to find 19 missing miners after an explosion killed seven workers Monday at an underground coal mine with a history of releasing vast amounts of highly combustible methane gas..
Nine rescue crews were at the southern West Virginia mine that covers several square miles, said federal Mine Safety and Health Administration spokeswoman Amy Louviere.
State mining director Ron Wooten said the blast happened at around 3 p.m. EDT (noon Tucson time) at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, about 30 miles south of Charleston.
The company did not provide details on the extent of the damage or if other miners had made it out on their own at the mine that has had three other fatalities in the last dozen years.
"We want to assure the families of all the miners we are taking every action possible to locate and rescue those still missing," said Massey CEO Don Blankenship, who confirmed the number of dead and missing in a statement.
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No one has said what might have caused the explosion, but federal records say the Eagle coal seam releases up to 2 million cubic feet of methane gas into the mine every 24 hours. That is a large amount, said Dennis O'Dell, health and safety director for the United Mine Workers labor union.
Methane is one of the great dangers of coal mining. The colorless, odorless gas is often sold to American consumers to heat homes and cook meals. In mines, giant fans are used to keep methane concentrations below certain levels.
In 2006, 12 miners died in a methane explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. If concentrations are kept between 5 percent and 15 percent, the gas can explode with a spark roughly similar to the static charge created by walking across a carpet in winter.
The sprawling Upper Big Branch, which cannot be seen from the road, has 19 openings and roughly 7-foot ceilings. Inside, it's criss-crossed with railroad tracks used for hauling people and equipment. It is located in one of the state's more heavily mined areas.
The mine, run by Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co., has caches of extra oxygen along emergency escape routes and airtight chambers designed to provide enough air to keep people alive for four days, according to Randy Harris, an engineering consultant who oversees installation of high-tech gear.
The mine produced 1.2 million tons of coal in 2009, according to the mine safety agency, and has about 200 employees, most of whom work underground. They would not have all been working the same shift. The mine has two production shifts and one maintenance shift.
Massey Energy is a publicly traded company based in Richmond, Va., that has 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and Tennessee, according to the company's Web site.
Massey ranks among the nation's top five coal producers and is among the industry's most profitable.
