Search for West Virginia miner trapped by floodwater extends into fourth day | West Virginia
Emergency responders have been trying to reach a miner trapped deep inside a coal mine in West Virginia since Saturday, according to officials.
A mining crew on Saturday hit an unknown pocket of water about three-quarters of a mile into the Rolling Thunder mine near Drennen, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the state capital, Charleston, Nicholas County Commissioner Garrett Cole said in a Facebook post.
After the accident was reported to the district emergency management at around 13.30 on Saturday, the situation of all other miners in the team was learned. It was unclear how extensive the flooding was inside.
West Virginia governor Patrick Morrisey said in a statement that the mine was flooded after an old mine wall was “compromised” and that multiple state agencies were involved in the response, including pumping water from the flooded section.
On Sunday, this meant emergency responders attempted to use underwater drones to reach the trapped miner, whose identity was not disclosed.
Morrisey later said dive teams were searching for air pockets where the miner could be found, ABC News reported. reported. The governor added that all resources, including national experts, were made available to rescue teams at Alpha Metallurgical Resources’ Rolling Thunder mine. West Virginia Watch news outlet.
Rolling Thunder is one of 11 underground mines operated in West Virginia by Tennessee-based Alpha Metallurgical Resources. The company also operates four surface mines in the state and three underground and one surface mine in Virginia.
A report prepared for Alpha in February by engineering consulting firm Marshall Miller & Associates said the area had been “extensively surveyed” by previous mine owners and obtained “a significant amount of historical data” that Alpha examined in assessing its coal-producing potential.
The same report says the Rolling Thunder coal seam is advancing along and below the drainage of TwentyMile Creek, but says there are “no significant hydrological concerns” about excavating more coal on heavily mined land.
