Teams to Plug Hole in Gas Well Blast

Charleston Gazette
14 June 2010
By The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Efforts to cap a gas well that exploded last week and injured seven workers will probably begin Tuesday.

State Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said Monday the state has reviewed and approved plans to plug the hole that shot flames of burning methane gas for five days.

Texas-based Union Drilling Inc. was sinking a natural gas well through an abandoned coal mine near Moundsville when it hit methane.

What caused the ignition remains under investigation. The fire ended Friday.

Meanwhile, the state is reviewing all West Virginia operations of the permit holder, AB Resources of Ohio. The DEP says failures to comply with the permit criteria may have created conditions that led to the blast.