Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 23, 1993 TAG: 9301230193
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OFFICIALS DONE WITH WITNESSES
Federal and state mine safety investigators have completed nine days of interviews related to a Wise County mine explosion that killed eight miners last month.Investigators with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy conducted formal interviews with roughly 30 witnesses.
State and federal officials have also completed an examination of the inside of the mine, ordered laboratory tests of some evidence and reviewed the mine's records, MSHA said in a statement Friday.
The Southmountain Coal Co. No. 3 mine exploded before sunrise on Dec. 7, killing eight men and injuring a ninth. A build-up of explosive methane gas kept rescuers from reaching the bodies of the dead miners for nearly three days.
Investigators are working to determine both the ignition source and thus the origin of the explosion as well as the reason methane gas built up in the mine to explosive levels, according to Edward Hugler, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.
Engineers for MSHA have made a thorough study of the mine's ventilation system, which will be used to reconstruct its condition at the time of the explosion, Hugler said.
Additionally, samples of dust from the mine floor will be studied to determine if the mine was adequately treated to suppress coal dust and the records of the company's own inspections of conditions in the mine prior to the explosion are being studied.
Specialists are analyzing the directions of flames and forces of the explosion to pinpoint the origin of its ignition. Mine electrical equipment and other possible ignition sources are being studied, MSHA said.
Authorities found smoking materials and cigarette butts on some of the dead miners but have not determined that smoking set off the explosion. MSHA also announced earlier that a methane monitor, designed to shut down a continuous mining machine when gas neared dangerous levels, had been tampered with.
MSHA may conduct more interviews before the investigation is complete. Families of some of the dead miners have complained that they were prevented from attending the interviews while representatives of the mine's management were allowed to attend. The families unsuccessfully asked for public hearings into the cause of the accident.
MSHA said transcripts of the interviews, except of those who requested confidentiality, will be made available within four to six weeks.