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Loveridge Mine Fire

Mine fire injures 1, Loveridge sealed

Friday, February 14, 2003
FAIRVIEW
By Bill Byrd

An underground fire late Thursday night at the giant Loveridge Mine has forced the mine to be sealed, raising concern that plans to resume full production by mid-summer will be delayed.

The fire started near the bottom of the slope entry at the Sugar Run portal, a Consol Inc. spokesman said Friday. We've elected to fight the fire from the surface. We're putting water down the slope because it is a natural low point, said Thomas F. Hoffman, Consol's vice president for investor and public relations. The water should pool and thus put the fire out, he said.

Crews spent much of Friday sealing off the mine's airshafts, putting caps on them to prevent air from fanning the fire.

Other portals to the mine, which stretches for about 15 miles underground on the Marion-Monongalia county border, are also being closed, Hoffman said.

We have a pretty good idea how the fire started, but we don't want to talk about that now, Hoffman said early Friday afternoon.

The site is about four-and-a-half miles from where 350 workers have been using four continuous miners to prepare for a longwall mining machine. It's so soon. There's really not much way to judge that now, he said when asked how the plan to resume longwall mining would be affected.

While mine officials met with federal and state mine safety experts and union representatives to plan on ways to fight the fire, there was some confusion about the events leading up to the fire and details about it.

Hoffman said early Friday afternoon there were no injuries. He also said the fire started around 10 p.m. However, Fairview Volunteer Fire Department official said the department's ambulance took an injured miner to Fairmont General Hospital. The Fairview ambulance was dispatched at 9:26 p.m. to the mine for a personal injury accident, said a dispatcher at the county's 911 emergency dispatch center.

A hospital spokeswoman could not confirm Friday night that a man suffering burns on his hands and difficulty breathing because of smoke inhalation was treated at the local hospital.

A miner told the Times West Virginian that he was at home when he got a call around 9:45 p.m. to come out to help. The miner, who asked not to be identified, said initial efforts to put out the fire seemed successful. But it erupted again and they had to evacuate everyone, he said

It's heart breaking. So many of these guys have been off for so long and were so happy to be back on the job, he said.

The miner said the fire reportedly started from an overhead spark in a mining car full of garbage.

Terry Farley, an official in Charleston with the state Office of Miner's Health, Safety and Training, said he heard that despite efforts to contain it the fire apparently got out of control. Farley also said he had heard a report of at least one miner being injured.

The unidentified miner was treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation and then released, he said. Mine officials did not notify the county's Office of Emergency Services until 7:10 a.m. Friday. A county 911 dispatcher said mine officials reported then that smoke was billowing from the mine's portals and shafts. The mine officials also said they didn't require any outside assistance, she said.

They were just letting us know of the situation, she said

Efforts to Contain Fire at CONSOL Energy's Loveridge Mine Underway

Friday February 14, 10:20 am ET

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A fire has occurred at CONSOL Energy's (NYSE: CNX - News) Loveridge Mine near Fairview, West Virginia. The fire is in the area near the bottom of the slope entry that is used to carry coal from the mine to the surface. The active mining area is about 4.5 miles from the fire. The mine has been evacuated and all employees are accounted for. There have been no injuries. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010115/PHM006LOGO-b )

Following consultation with federal and state safety officials, the company has decided to seal all openings into the mine temporarily in order to cut off oxygen to the fire. In addition, water will be pumped down the slope entry and allowed to pool in the area of the fire to provide an additional means of fire suppression. The plan was chosen because the coal seam at Loveridge releases methane gas that could have posed a risk to miners attempting to fight the fire underground.

The Loveridge Mine was idle during 2002. In late December, the mine began the process of developing a new area underground that would be mined with high-extraction longwall mining equipment expected to be installed later this year. The mine currently has approximately 370 employees.

CONSOL Energy Inc. is the largest producer of high-Btu bituminous coal in the United States, and the largest exporter of U.S. coal. CONSOL Energy has 22 bituminous coal mining complexes in seven states, two Canadian provinces, and Australia. In addition, the company is one of the largest U.S. producers of coalbed methane, with daily gas production of approximately 135 million cubic feet. The company also produces electricity from coalbed methane at a joint-venture generating facility in Virginia. CONSOL Energy has annual revenues of $2.2 billion. It won the Platts 2001 Financial Times Global Energy Award as Coal Company of the Year, received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2002 Climate Protection Award, and received the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining 2002 National Award for Excellence in Surface Mining for the company's innovative reclamation practices in southern Illinois. Additional information about the company can be found at its web site: www.consolenergy.com.

Forward-looking statements: CONSOL Energy is including the following cautionary statement to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of CONSOL Energy. With the exception of historical matters, any matters discussed are forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 21E of the Exchange Act) that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from projected results. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, the following: the success or failure of CONSOL Energy's efforts to implement its business strategy; reliance on major customers and long-term contracts; the effects of market demand and price on performance; the ability to renew coal and gas sales agreements upon expiration; the price of coal and gas sold under any new sales agreements; fluctuating sales prices; contract penalties; actions of CONSOL Energy's competitors and CONSOL Energy's ability to respond to such actions; risks inherent in mining and gas production including geological conditions, mine and gas operations accidents; weather-related factors; results of litigation; the effects of government regulation; the risk of work stoppages; the risk of transportation disruptions that could impair CONSOL Energy's ability to sell coal and gas; management's ability to correctly estimate and accrue for contingent liabilities; and CONSOL Energy's ability to identify suitable acquisition candidates and to successfully finance, consummate the acquisition of, and integrate these candidates as part of its acquisition strategy.

Fire shuts Consol mine in Fairview, W.Va.

Friday, February 14, 2003
Associated Press

FAIRVIEW, W.Va. -- A fire at the base of a sloped mine entrance has shut down production at the Loveridge deep mine on the Monongalia-Marion County border, a Consol Energy spokesman said today.

No one was injured.

The fire began shortly before midnight yesterday in the area where the entrance, a tunnel dug from the surface to the coal seam at a sloped angle, meets the coal seam. The entrance is used to take supplies into the mine and to take coal out on a conveyor belt, said Tom Hoffman, vice president investor and public relations for Consol Energy, a Pittsburgh-based company.

Although the entrance is not used to take people in or out of the mine, there were some people near the fire when it began, Hoffman said. He did not know how many.

Although company officials believe they know the cause of the fire, Hoffman would not discuss it yet, saying more officials needed to talk to each other to compare notes.

On June 22, 1999, an underground fire broke out in the same mine. A skeleton crew of 10 working that day to pump water and methane out escaped unhurt. The mine was sealed within hours.

After cleanup, the company started reopening Loveridge in November and called back more miners in December. Another 200 workers were called back in January, and the mine now employs 370, although production of coal has not resumed, Hoffman said.

After conferring with state and federal mine safety officials, Consol has decided to fight the fire from the surface because the Pittsburgh coal seam at that point is known to produce a large amount of methane gas, which could cause an explosion.

"First, we are going to pump water down the slope entry. The fire is in a low area of the mine, in terms of distance from the surface. We believe we can get water to pool up and if not extinguish it, suppress it with the water," Hoffman said.

All mine entrances will also be sealed to keep air from fanning the flames.

Because the mine will be sealed, layoffs are likely, but Hoffman did not know how many.

The mine has years of operation left, Hoffman said in January.

The mine, which opened in 1956, produced 4.8 million tons of coal in 1997.

"We were in the process of developing a new area for mining that is about four and a half miles away from where the fire is now," Hoffman said today. The company had planned to install a longwall mining system in the new area and resume production by the middle of this year.