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cyberdude611 -> Drill reaches pocket holding Utah miners (8/10/2007 12:52:55 AM)
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HUNTINGTON, Utah - Rescuers drilled through to a pocket in the coal mine where six miners have been trapped, but heard no sound through a microphone that was lowered into the collapsed mine.
The mine's co-owner remained hopeful that the six men were still alive despite the silence.
"I wouldn't look at it as good or bad news. The work is not done," said Bob Murray, chairman of Murray Energy Corp.
Mining officials were able to take an air reading from the pocket and said the air quality was good, with 20.5 percent oxygen, some carbon monoxide and no methane.
"That means if they're alive, they're going to stay alive in that atmosphere," Murray said during a news conference early Friday.
The air sample was drawn more than 1,800 feet through a steel tube, which remained in the narrow hole to keep the slender lifeline open in case the miners heard a tone from the microphone and tried to respond.
The sample, however, did not pick up carbon dioxide, the gas that is exhaled from the lungs when people breathe. Still, mine officials warned that the lack of carbon dioxide did not necessarily mean that the miners were dead.
"What you got was a quick sample from a crude instrument, so you don't get all the constituents reported," said Christopher Van Bever, an attorney for Murray Energy.
The drill bit finally broke through around 10 p.m. MDT on Thursday. Two hours later, Murray and officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration said that there was no immediate response after the drill reached the pocket.
Drilling continued on a wider hole, which could accommodate a powerful camera to provide a view inside the pocket, deliver food and water, and hopefully give a more definitive answer about the miners' fate.
Work also continued in the mine itself, where workers were slowly burrowing through the debris to try to reach the site where the miners were when the walls caved in early Monday.
"It's incredibly labor-intensive," said Rob Moore, vice president of Murray Energy.
If the trapped miners are alive, they may be sitting in inky darkness, their headlamps having burned out. Wearing thin work clothes in the 58-degree cold, they could be chilled to the bone if water is seeping into their chamber 150 stories below ground.
At the time of the collapse the six miners were working in an area with an 8-foot ceiling. Corridors in the mine are typically about 14 feet wide.
"I'm sure their lights have died by now. I'm sure it's pitch black," said miner Robby Robertson, 27, of Orangeville, Utah, who worked in the mine several years ago. "Imagine the darkest place you've ever been."
Murray, however, said that if the minors survived the collapse itself, they would probably be spending most of the time in the dark to conserve their headlamp batteries, which are generally good for about 12 hours each.
"As soon as they realized they were trapped, it is very likely they went down to one light and very likely they went into total darkness a lot of the time and only used that light for the purpose of getting to the materials they need to ensure their survival," Murray said. "It wouldn't be bright. It would be like a very, very, large flashlight."
Their other materials typically include a half-gallon of water each in coolers, he said.
Robertson, the former Crandall miner, said the men would be helping each other, the older ones being strong for the younger ones.
"If these people are still alive, I'm sure they're all sitting together. I'm sure they're all just trying to comfort each other. I'm sure they know people are trying to get to them," he said. "You're closer to the crew you're on than your own family."
In previous accidents, trapped miners have passed the time talking, writing letters to loved ones and praying.
"You feel helpless because you're depending on someone else to get you out of the situation," said Dennis Hall, one of nine men who survived 77 hours trapped in Pennsylvania's flooded Quecreek Mine in 2002.
"You do everything you can to try to get out of the situation, but once again, when your back's up against the wall and you've used all your efforts to get out, it's a hell of a feeling. And the waiting and wondering is really bad," said Hall, 53, of Johnstown, Pa.
Based on his own experience of once being trapped in a mine, Murray said the trapped miners would be confident.
"It's not bad, because they know people are coming after them. If they had enough air, they're not worried. We'll get to them before they die. But you've got to understand they may be dead already," he said.
When he was trapped, he said, time went by fast. But, he added, "I could hear them coming after me."
The mining company has withheld the names of the six miners. The Associated Press has confirmed five identities: Carlos Payan, Don Erickson, Kerry Allred, Manuel Sanchez and Brandon Phillips.
The mens' families were praying for their survival, one relative said.
"There are all types of conditions that could be in there for these folks ... some little cavity, some little corner," said Arch Allred, cousin of miner Kerry Allred.
Meanwhile, there were more scientific findings disputing Murray's claim that an earthquake caused the collapse.
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, did their own analysis of Monday's seismic event and determined the seismic waves came from an underground collapse.
A day after the mine collapse, a team of technicians from the University of Utah began installing two seismometers — one directly on top of the mine and the other to the west of it. They plan to install three to five more seismic instruments in the coming weeks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070810/ap_on_re_us/utah_mine_collapse
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