CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Governor Patrick Morrisey says another pump has been added at the Rolling Thunder Mine in Nicholas County as rescue efforts continue rescue a missing miner.
Morrisey told reporters Wednesday morning that the focus of the ongoing work is to remove water from the flooded coal mine.
“The big, strategic goal right now is to drain as much water as possible to give the mine rescue individuals the opportunity to go in and further their search,” Morrisey said during a press conference at the Federal Courthouse in Charleston following a meeting with U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin Wednesday.
New equipment delivered to the mine has helped speed up the pumping process, but there’s still a lot of water to get out of the mine. Crews are trying to speed the effort to find the missing man who hasn’t been heard from since Saturday.
“The average height where we’re draining is declining about an inch an hour, maybe even a little more. We’re seeing a rate of dewatering at about 6,000 gallons a minute,” Morrisey said.
Where the water was being pumped to was of some concern according to the Governor when asked about the potential environmental impact.
“There’s been a lot of close coordination between our DEP and folks on the federal side to do that the right way. Right now, all efforts are focused on the rescue, but I know our teams have been looking at that and working in partnership with all relevant agencies to try and make that happen” he added.
Morrisey said he also got a chance to look at the close proximity of the old mine works which played out in the 30’s and 40’s. It is located adjacent to the Rolling Thunder mine. A seal to the old mine broke and is evidently the source of the water which flooded the current operation. Morrisey was unable to confirm if that was the case or if there was another source for the water.
Along with the efforts to pump out the water, drilling crews continued to work on drilling a hole to insert a rescue capsule into the mine. Morrisey said the work was being done separately because it would be a longer process and they wanted to be ready to drop the capsule once the water was out.
Morrisey stressed there was solid cooperation between state and federal mine regulatory agencies, rescuers, and the company and the goal remained a straight focus on the missing man who was the shift foreman at the mine on Saturday. He was one of 18 who were underground when the flood occurred. The others escaped the mine.