US Mine Safety and Health Administration coal administrator Kevin Stricklin said at about 4pm local time Wednesday that initial air samples reflected 14,000 parts per million of carbon monoxide underground at the Raleigh County operation, much higher than the 50ppm mandated for safe operation by the agency. Hydrogen levels were 10,000ppm; most operating mines will have readings of zero.

Oxygen readings underground at UBB were 15%, below the 19.5% Stricklin said workers needed to be in the mine atmosphere safely.

While the first readings were showing a 3% concentration of methane (regulations mandate 1%), not necessarily dangerous by itself, the combination of the gases “puts it in an area close” to being explosive, he said.

"So we're dealing with numbers that are way above and beyond what we typically see in a mine, but we're dealing with a situation that is not normal at all either," Stricklin pointed out.

Rescue teams have arrived from across Appalachia –ILN has confirmed several crews are onsite from Massey, Alpha Natural Resources and Consol Energy – and borehole drilling is continuing into the Longwall 22 section area where the four miners are believed to be located.

Officials said Tuesday evening at the commencement of drilling that four holes would be sunk, but that number has since risen to five. The first borehole was completed at 4am, but surface crews reported no response from 1093 feet down when they continually struck a pipe inserted into the hole.

Stricklin and West Virginian Governor Joe Manchin said work on a second hole had begun and plans were to sink a third hole near the second. Officials confirmed yesterday that one hole would be used for monitoring while others would be utilized for the liberation of gases from the underground environment; additionally, drilling is being directed over the refuge chamber locations so that cameras can be lowered to confirm whether any of the units have been used.

State and federal officials noted Wednesday afternoon that the gases escaping from the first borehole were so strong that the drillers were affected. To remedy the issue, tubing was placed to vent the exhaust away from the operators.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, the second borehole had reached 535ft and a third, the monitoring hole, was 100ft down into an area north of the headgate. A fourth, not yet commenced as of mid-afternoon, will be placed in the tailgate area to monitor underground atmospheric conditions while the fifth hole will be placed in the headgate area.

While Manchin said that up to 30 rescuers were at the ready, awaiting official word to enter the operation to locate those unaccounted for, he noted that the families all were in agreement about rescuers’ safety and that crews should wait until the inside atmosphere was safe to travel the 8000ft to the active section.

Some media outlets reported Massey Energy chairman Don Blankenship being largely absent from the areas where miners’ families were gathered just after the accident, but a company spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that he had been onsite and meeting with relatives all day with the exception of a short period where he was asked to meet with state and federal officials and provide an update to Manchin. Following the meeting, he returned to the families where he was expected to remain Wednesday evening.

“Massey continues to devote its attention and resources to the ongoing rescue efforts and the families while working closely with federal and state agencies,” the spokesperson said.

“[We are] currently assembling mine rescue teams in order to be fully prepared and ready to enter the mine immediately upon official clearance from the appropriate authorities.”

Stricklin was skeptical in an afternoon briefing that the remaining four were able to reach the rescue chamber in the section, the only one remaining which hadn’t already been confirmed empty. Manchin called this the families’ “sliver of hope”, and Stricklin pointed out that the workers would still be alive only if they had been able to make it to the unit, but acknowledged that the blast was sudden in nature and very severe.

Neither Massey nor state and federal officials have yet confirmed the identities of the workers who have been brought to the surface, but various media have released a list, including:

Cory Davis, 20

Timmy Davis Sr, 51

Steve Harrah, 40

Josh Napper, 25 (two months experience)

Gary Quarles, 33

Deward Scott, 58

Benny Willingham, 62

Boone Payne, 52

Carl Acord, 52

Jason Atkins, 25

In total, 25 workers died Monday, but 14 of them remain underground along with the four still unaccounted for. Massey confirmed a total of 31 were working in the area at the time of the incident.

The producer also said Wednesday afternoon in a Q&A-style statement that the bodies of four identified workers remained at the mine and seven had been removed.

Massey has established an operations center at the Performance Coal Training Center for families to meet directly with company and government officials, and has also set up a toll-free information line for counseling services or other assistance that may be needed.

A Massey spokesperson said the center was created so that families would receive only official information confirmed by authorities. The producer was continuing to meet with them every two hours to provide new details.

State will act quickly for mine safety: Manchin

Governor Manchin said Wednesday afternoon that once rescue and recovery operations were completed at Upper Big Branch South, he would be moving rapidly to improve mine safety.

“We will be very stern and quick to act,” he said. “We’ve got to find some way to prevent this.”

Manchin spearheaded mine safety legislation immediately after the death of 12 workers at the Sago mine in West Virginia in January 2006, which was followed just weeks later by the Aracoma mine fire and events at Kentucky Darby mine that both took multiple lives, with the collective legislation later known as the MINER Act of 2006. He pledged to media outlets that he would progress with the same kind of action once the cause of the UBB blast was known.

“The state will move as quickly as you’ve ever seen anything move,” Manchin said.

While officials do not yet know what caused the explosion Monday afternoon, experts have told various reporters that it was likely methane gas mixed with coal dust but could not speculate on the reason for the build-up or any potential ignition source.

“So many unanswered questions,” Manchin said in an afternoon briefing, reiterating that he wanted to know what could have happened at the southern West Virginia operation.

“What caused those conditions is what I want to know. How did it happen … could it have been prevented?”

Massey cited for violations April 5

According to federal statistics and records and the Associated Press, Massey Energy was cited for two federal safety violations at UBB on April 5, the day of the explosion.

While records do not indicate if either were related to the explosion, it appears one of the violations was for inadequately mapping escape routes; MSHA mandates that all US mines must detail the location of escapeways, oxygen caches and refuge chambers. The other was related to a splice on a trailing cable at one of the mine’s five working sections.

The AP also reported that the mine was cited three months ago because one intake ventilation system had reserved air flow. A foreman told investigators he was aware of the situation near two escape routes but did not address it; MSHA confirmed management had rectified the incident the same day.

The 200-worker Upper Big Branch South mine, which has one longwall and five working CM sections, extracts from the Eagle seam. The mine is operated by Massey division Performance Coal.

Keep reading ILN for the latest information on the Upper Big Branch explosion as it becomes available.