Methane Detected at Site of Mine Blast, Inspector Testifies
Workers detected high levels of methane at the William Station Mine four days before an explosion there killed 10 men, a state inspector testified Tuesday.
The air was 6% methane in one section of the mine when tested Sept. 9, but the high level of gas alone does not explain the blast, said Billy Smith, an inspector for the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals.
“You had a 6% level on Saturday before the explosion,” Smith said. “That is an explosive level and it didn’t explode. You’ve got to have an ignition source.”
Workers adjusted fireproof curtains to allow more air into the mine, assigned a miner to monitor the methane level while they worked, and warned incoming crews of the high gas levels before the blast, Smith said at a state hearing on the Sept. 13 explosion, the worst U.S. mining disaster since 1984.
Methane is considered explosive in levels of from 5% to 15%.
Workers in the section of the mine where the blast occurred were dismantling a longwall mining machine. Mining in that area had been completed Sept. 6.
Ron Siler, president of Pyro Mining Co., the mine owner, said officials did not learn until after the explosion of the high methane reading.
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