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OPA News Release: [07/25/2002]
Contact Name: Rodney
Brown
Phone Number: (202) 693-9425
MSHA Monitoring Rescue Activities At Pennsylvania Coal Mine
ARLINGTON, Va. – Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA) rescue personnel and technical specialists have responded to the
emergency at the QueCreek Mine in Somerset County, Pa., where nine miners
became trapped in an underground coal mine after an inundation last night.
“We are greatly concerned for the trapped miners and their
families,” said Dave D. Lauriski, assistant secretary of labor for mine
safety and health. “We, along with State officials, are closely monitoring
the situation and offering technical assistance to the company’s rescue
efforts.”
According to preliminary information, an inundation of water occurred
late Wednesday in the working section of the underground coal. Nine miners
safely evacuated the mine and nine miners were trapped by water. The area of
the entrapment is approximately 230 feet underground and about one and a half
miles from the mine entrance.
MSHA’s mine rescue team is on site along with representatives of
the agency’s District 2 office and Technical Support Center, both located
near Pittsburgh, Pa., as well other State and Federal officials.
The QueCreek Mine was opened in 2000 by Black Wolf Coal, Inc. According
to reports filed by the operator, approximately 60 miners are employed working
two production shifts per day. The mine produced 200,000 tons of coal in 2001.
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