Rescue Effort Finds Little Oxygen, No Signs of Life in Collapsed Mine

Aug 11, 07:30 AM

Current Headlines: By JENNIFER DOBNER

By Jennifer Dobner

The Associated Press

HUNTINGTON, Utah

The effort to find six coal miners caught in a cave-in took a disheartening turn Friday when a narrow hole drilled more than 1,800 feet down into the earth yielded no sounds of life and barely any oxygen.

The drill entered an area where the miners were thought to be working at the time of Monday's collapse. Mine officials had earlier thought their drill had simply hit a sealed, abandoned area of the mine that had little oxygen.

Air readings at the bore hole showed there was not enough oxygen to support life. But officials kept up hope, saying the miners may have fled to another area that could have more oxygen.

"It's difficult to say. I'm not going to speculate," said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., a co-owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine.

Initial readings showing oxygen levels above 20 percent - a breathable atmosphere - were samples from the bore hole itself and not the mine, said Bob Murray, chief of Murray Energy. There was no sign of carbon dioxide to indicate that people were exhaling.

When the drill was raised a few feet to clear it from debris, the oxygen readings fell to just over 7 percent and have remained there, said Richard Stickler, head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

"Normal oxygen is 21 percent," he said. "Once you get down to 15 percent, you start having effects, and at 71/2 percent, it would not support life very long."

(c) 2007 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.