Questions Surround Marshall County Gas Well Explosion

It is unknown who was supposed to monitor the methane levels in the abandoned mine near the well site.

WBOY-TV Clarksburg, WV
7 June 2010
By Jessika Lewis, Assignment Editor

MOUNDSVILLE -- Multiple agencies are looking into a Marshall County gas well explosion that sent seven people to the hospital in the early morning hours of Monday, June 7.

Workers with Union Drilling out of Buckhannon were trying to drill a second well on the Beam’s Lane site which is near an abandoned mine, at about 1 a.m., when they hit a pocket of methane gas that exploded about 1,000 feet down, according to Kathy Cosco, a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesperson and Chief Oil and Gas spokeswoman Kristi Gittens.

Chief Oil and Gas operates that well, Marshall County Emergency Management Agency representatives told the media in a news conference on Monday afternoon.

That mine is the old Alexander Mine, which is now owned by CONSOL, Cosco stated.

Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training (OMHST) records show that Valley Camp Coal Company mined the area, but sold it to CONSOL in the 1970s, explained Leslie Fitzwater, OMHST spokeswoman.

CONSOL sealed the mine in the early 1980s, and it has not been vented since some time that decade, which Fitzwater indicated would have left plenty of time for methane to build up inside.

OMHST inspectors went to the scene, but Fitzwater was not sure what they found there.

CONSOL could not be reached for comment.

So, who was checking the methane levels in the mine?

That is still unclear.

The OMHST, The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) say it is not something they do.

“In most cases, no monitoring occurs. The Office of Surface Mining has done so occasionally, but usually only when related to a liberation near a dwelling or building from abandoned mines or lands,” wrote Amy Louviere, MSHA spokesperson in response to that question.

The Environmental Protection Agency could not be reached for comment either.

AB Resources out of Brecksville, Ohio, the company that obtained a permit from the West Virginia DEP to construct the mine, informed CONSOL that it was planning to drill at the site, Cosco relayed.

That company works in concert with Chief Oil and Gas to operate the well, as far as Cosco’s office is concerned.

DEP inspectors were at the site checking for methane levels in the air near where the explosion ignited, Cosco continued, but at this point, it is unknown what they found.

OSHA sent its own people to investigate the matter, but spokesperson Leni Fortson said her agency has six months to complete that investigation.

Fortson could not comment any further on the situation.

All seven drillers injured in the fiery discharge were taken to the West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh for treatment, but at this point, their names have not been released.

During the afternoon news conference, emergency management personnel affirmed that they are in fair condition and have non-life-threatening injuries.