MSHA spokesperson Amy Louviere told various media that mine officials had had to develop a plan to lower heightened methane gas levels in several sealed sections of the northern West Virginia mine. The March 1 meeting was established to review those plans.
A US Department of Labor spokesperson confirmed the meeting to ILN Monday afternoon, but did not provide any details on the outcome.
“MSHA will need time to evaluate the submitted plan,” the spokesperson said.
“We do not have a timeline on when Patriot mine workers may go back to work. This will be based on the mine officials’ plan to inert the atmosphere in the sealed area.”
Patriot announced February 22 that it had temporarily suspended mining at Federal No. 2, near Fairview, after finding potentially adverse atmospheric conditions.
The conditions, it said, were discovered on February 18 in an abandoned area of the mine. However, Louviere told ILN in an interview last week that the mine was shut down on two separate occasions – February 12 and again February 18, after which the issue was made public.
On February 23, MSHA and the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training confirmed that federal authorities had commenced an investigation into falsified safety records at Federal.
WVOMHST spokesperson Jama Jarrett told ILN at that time that the state’s mine inspectors had opened an investigation at the complex in late January after then foreman John Renner admitted to mine staff that he had falsified his records.
“He entered in the record books a mandatory safety check, but admitted that he did not actually perform the entire safety examination, which included checking methane levels behind a sealed portion of the mine,” Jarrett said.
His false report was entered January 24, according to court documents, when he claimed he had checked the No. 27 block seal.
Jarrett noted that Renner was subsequently fired and the WVOMHST was seeking the suspension and ultimate revocation of Renner’s certification.
According to court documents from the US Attorney’s Office, Renner is facing one count of making false statements, representations and certifications.
