CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state’s chief mine safety officer says there’s a big difference between the conditions of the two abandoned coal mines that have been the sites of separate search efforts during the past month for missing residents.
During an appearance Friday on MetroNews Talkline, West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health Safety and Training Director Eugene White said the Wells Complex Lightfoot No.1 mine in Boone County was much more dangerous than the old Rock House-Powellton Mine near Clear Creek on the Boone-Raleigh county line.
“There’s no comparison,” White said.
Friends and family members fear Wes Blackburn, 38, of Oceana, may still be in the Lightfoot mine. It’s believed he went in with another man searching for copper on Nov. 26.
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According to White, a search team entered the mine on Nov. 29 but found conditions too dangerous to continue. The team encountered numerous roof falls. A second entrance was unusable. White said Friday that they won’t be going back in.
“As far as sending a mine rescue into this mine to do further exploration—it’s way too dangerous,” he said during an interview on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Gov. Jim Justice had White, law enforcement agencies and other first responders get together again Thursday to compare notes. They announced all efforts to find Blackburn “had been expended.”
Blackburn’s supporters have staged several protests this week, claiming the state hasn’t put as much effort in finding Blackburn as they did the three Raleigh County residents who were rescued from the Rock House-Powellton mine last week. White said Friday that mine had only been closed for two years and was in much better condition. The Lightfoot mine hasn’t been active for 20 years.
White said he understands the concerns of the Blackburn family. He said Blackwell Mining is allowing some of his family members to begin an aboveground search.
“We’re not for sure he’s even underground,” White said. “They are doing searches on the surface in the event that he came out and he wandered up into the mountains and on the hillside.”
Authorities have already charged Gary Gibson, 37, of Oceana, for illegally entering the mine with Blackburn to steal copper. Amanda Pennington, who allegedly helped get the men to the site, is charged with conspiracy to break and enter an underground mine.