Petition for Modification
In the matter of
Peabody Coal Company
Camp No. 11 Mine
I.D. No. 15-08357
Docket No. M-1999-028-C
30 CFR 75.364(b)(4)
On March 26, 1999, a petition was filed seeking a modification of the application of 30 CFR 75.364(b)(4) to Petitioner's Camp No. 11 Mine, located in Union County, Kentucky. The Petitioner alleges that application of this standard will result in a diminution of safety to the miners and that the alternative method proposed in the petition will at all times guarantee no less than the same measure of protection afforded by the standard.
Petitioner's proposed alternative method is to replace weekly examination of the inaccessible 9th North seals with daily examinations at eight underground and two surface evaluation points where methane and oxygen concentrations and airflow quantity will be measured by a certified person with the records of the measurements maintained in a book kept at the surface of the mine. In addition, the air quality of the two bleeder bore hole exhaust fans will be continuously monitored using methane and oxygen sensors by the mines's Atmospheric Monitoring System (AMS). The petitioner alleges that this method will provide the same measure of protection as the physical examination and required air quantity and quality measurements required by the standard.
MSHA personnel conducted an investigation of the petition and filed a report of their findings and recommendations with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health. After a careful review of the entire record, including the petition, the petition amendment and MSHA's investigative report and recommendations, a Proposed Decision and Order (PDO) was issued on July 31, 2000.
On August 25, 2000, Petitioner a requested a hearing on the July 31,2000, PDO. Petitioner also submitted a request to amend the July 31, 2000, PDO by deleting Paragraph 14 in its entirety and redesignating paragraph 15 as Paragraph 14. Paragraph 14 of the July 31 PDO would require submission of a sealing plan for the eleven interconnected worked out longwall panels immediately upon completion and removal of equipment from the 15th Right Panel. Petitioner contends that immediate sealing of the area will require extensive and unnecessary expenditure of resources to seal a worked out area which is being and will continue to be adequately ventilated while two more longwall panels are extracted. The request to amend estimates that all work in the existing block of longwall panels and the two panels off of 3rd Submain Southeast will be completed in year 2002, at which time the mine will be permanently abandoned and the surface openings sealed.
MSHA has conducted further investigation of the petition, including the request to amend th July 31 PDO, and has received up to date information on the mine ventilation and mining projection. After a careful review of the entire record, this Amended PDO is issued.
Application of 30 CFR 75.364(b)(4) and (c)(3) to the subject mine will result in a diminution of safety to the miners and the special terms and conditions set out below will at all times provide a safe work environment to the miners.
MSHA's investigation of the petitioned area found that the proposed alternative method would monitor air which is highly diluted by return air that has not passed in front of the inaccessible mine seals and, therefore, would not be representative of the air ventilating the inaccessible seals.
In addition, the proposed downwind monitoring stations (located on the surface and at the bore hole bleeder fans) have many times greater quantity of air than the single underground upwind location which is most representative of the air flowing in front of the inaccessible mine seals. The extent to which the airflow is diluted and/or contaminated by the worked out longwall panels' gob areas prevents the proposed alternative method from providing any meaningful information as to the condition of the mine seals. MSHA concluded that the alternative method may provide a reasonable means of evaluating the bleeder system's inaccessible bleeder entries, but is not effective in evaluating the seals. The investigation also confirmed that the condition of the bleeder/return entries are unsafe for travel. However, to rehabilitate one of the entries for a distance in excess of 5600-feet back to the seals would be extremely hazardous.
MSHA has determined that travel to examine individual mine seals would result in a diminution of safety for the mine examiners and that the rehabilitation of the area would be hazardous to miners performing such work. In the PDO issued July 31, 2000, MSHA amended the petitioner's proposed alternative method to include: a) continuously monitoring only the BF1 bleeder bore hole fan because only that fan handles air which has passed in front of the petitioned inaccessible mine seals, b) more explicit requirements outlining how the monitoring stations are to be identified, made safe for examination and records kept, and c) a requirement that the entire worked out longwall panel set be sealed upon completion of 15th Right Panel.
The sealing of these worked out panels was to place the inaccessible 9th North mine seals within a larger sealed area, and at that time, the seals would no longer be subject to 30 CFR 75.364 examinations. However, based upon the mine ventilation and mining projection information provided by the petitioner in support of its request to amend the July 31 PDO, the very limited remaining mine life achieves the intent of sealing upon completion of the 15th Right Panel. The permanent abandonment of the mine and sealing of the mine's surface opening will effectively limit the duration of time upon which the condition of the 4 North Seals must be evaluated. Therefore, Paragraph 14 of the July 31, 2000, PDO has been deleted and Paragraph 15 renumbered.
On the basis of the petition and the findings of MSHA's
investigation, Peabody Coal Company is granted a modification of the application of 30 CFR 75.364(b)(4) and (c)(3) to its Camp No. 1 Mine.
Wherefore, pursuant to the authority delegated by the Secretary of Labor to the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health, and pursuant to Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C., sec. 811(c), it is ordered that Peabody Coal Company's Petition for Modification of the application of 30 CFR 75.364(b) and (c)(3) in the Camp No. 11 Mine is hereby:
GRANTED, for continuous monitoring using intrinsically safe sensors installed as part of the mine's AMS and daily evaluation of air, entering the worked out longwall panels and approximately 5600-feet of bleeder/return aircourse which ventilates the inaccessible 9th North mine seals, conditioned upon compliance with the following terms and conditions:
1. Nine monitoring stations that allow evaluation of the air flow ventilating the five worked out longwall panels and the inaccessible 9th North mine seals shall be established at the following locations:
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(a) Eight monitoring stations where air enters the inaccessible bleeder/return
entries at the mouth of each worked out panel, in the entries or in the
regulators located in the center entry of the tailgate set and in the two
regulators feeding air into the five remaining entries of the first panel
tailgate (identified by Petitioner as monitoring stations A through H).
AMS sensors to monitor methane and oxygen concentrations are not
required to be used at these monitoring stations.
- Where AMS sensors are required, they shall be located such that the air flowing over the sensor is representative of the air flowing through the bleeder bore hole.
- A certified person shall:
- (The examination shall be conducted at least daily and include:
- examining for hazards on the approaches to and at the eight underground monitoring stations;
- evaluating and measuring the quality and quantity of air entering or leaving the monitoring stations. Air quality measurements shall determine the methane and oxygen concentrations using an MSHA approved hand-held device. Air quantity measurements shall be made using an appropriately calibrated anemometer. Methane gas or other harmful, noxious or poisonous gases shall not be permitted to accumulate in excess of legal limits for a return aircourse. An increase of 0.5 percent methane above the last previous reading or a 10 percent change in the air flow quantity at any monitoring station shall cause an immediate investigation of the affected area; and,
- determining if the air being continuously monitored is representative by comparing the measurements to previous measurements. Any increase in methane or decrease in oxygen content may indicate disruption of the bleeder system or failure of mine seals. Also, reduced air flow at the underground monitoring stations may indicate whether additional roof falls or further roof deterioration is choking off airflow in front of the inaccessible 9th North mine seals; or that the seals have failed.
(b) One monitoring station where air leaves the inaccessible bleeder system in the surface bleeder bore hole fan (identified by the petitioner as monitoring station BF1 in the investigation report). AMS sensors to monitor methane and oxygen concentrations are required to be used at this monitoring station.
(b) Determine, from the AMS surface location readouts, the oxygen and methane concentrations from the sensors located at the monitoring station (BF1). This determination shall be made daily, within 3 hours preceding the first operating shift, and before anyone on that shift, including certified persons, enters the petitioned area to conduct the daily examinations at the underground monitoring stations (A-H).
(c) Record the results of each daily examination and each daily determination of the air quality required by Paragraphs 2(a) and (b) in a separate book on the surface which shall be made available to all interested parties. The certification, record keeping, and retention period requirements of 30 CFR 75.364(g), (h), and (i) shall be met.
3. The date, initials of examiners, time, and results of the weekly examinations shall be recorded in a book or on a date board, that shall be provided at the monitoring stations.
4. An AMS meeting the minimum requirements of 30 CFR 75.351 shall be used to continuously monitor methane and oxygen concentrations. Sensor signals for each of the monitored gases shall activate alarms at the surface location and any affected working sections and any other affected permanent underground locations where miners are scheduled to work or travel. Oxygen and methane sensors shall be tested and calibrated in accordance with 30 CFR 75.351(f) and the manufacturers' instructions. Manufacturers' information concerning the calibration and accuracy of the sensors used shall be submitted to the District Manager as a part of the mine ventilation plan.
5. The AMS monitoring sensors for methane and oxygen shall be capable of providing both visual and audible signals.
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(a) A visual or audible alert signal shall be activated at the following initial
levels:
Oxygen 19.9%
Methane 0.5%
(b) An audible and visual alarm signal shall be activated at the following initial levels:
Oxygen 19.5%
Methane 1.5%
(c) In lieu of the above alert and alarm levels, the District Manager is authorized to require lower alert and alarm levels.
6. The mine evacuation plan required by 30 CFR 75.1101-23(a) shall be revised to specify the action to be taken to determine the cause of the alert and alarm signals, the location(s) for withdrawal of miners for each alarm signal, the steps to be taken after the cause of an alert signal is determined, and the procedures to be followed if an alarm signal is activated. Such revisions shall be approved by the District Manager. The determination as to the appropriate response to alert and alarm signals generated by oxygen sensors shall be subject to the District Manager approval in the mine's 30 CFR 75.1101-23 program of instruction. The response to methane sensor alert and alarm signals is dictated by the applicable parts of 30 CFR 75.323. A record of each alert and alarm signal given and the action taken shall be maintained at the mine for a period of 1 year.
7. Any time the District Manager determines that changes are necessary to ensure the air flowing over the monitoring stations is representative of the air flow ventilating the worked out longwall panels / gob areas and the inaccessible bleeder/return entries and inaccessible mine seals, changes shall be made through the mine ventilation plan approval process. Such changes may include:
- (a) relocation of monitoring stations or adding monitoring stations should
further roof deterioration render the present locations no longer
representative of the air flow ventilating the inaccessible areas and
inaccessible mine seals;
(b) the installation of additional temporary or permanent ventilation controls or adjusting the regulator described in Paragraph 1, to force air in front of the inaccessible mine seals;
(c) the elimination of continuous monitoring using AMS sensors where a minimum 50 fpm of air flow velocity across the sensors can not be ensured and establishing daily examinations, including gas checks using MSHA approved hand-held multi-gas detectors, and measuring air quantity using appropriate and calibrated anemometers at the monitoring stations; or
(d) where the District Manager determines that the above changes to the terms and conditions cannot provide assurance that the 9th North mine seals are intact or that the bleeder entries and gob areas are being effectively ventilated, other actions may be required. Those actions may include any rehabilitation necessary to gain access to the seals or the construction of new mine seals which isolate the failed seals within a larger sealed area while action to revoke this PDO is taken pursuant to 30 CFR 44.52.
8. The permanent ventilation controls, monitoring stations and atmospheric monitoring system sensor locations shall be shown on the annual mine ventilation map submitted in accordance with 30 CFR 75.372.
9. All monitoring stations and sensor locations and approaches to both stations and sensors shall, at all times be maintained in safe condition. The roof shall be adequately supported by roof bolts or other suitable means to prevent deterioration of the roof in the vicinity of the stations.
10. A sign showing the safe travel route to each underground monitoring station shall be conspicuously displayed in the main intake haulage entry.
11. A diagram showing the normal direction of the air current flow in this area shall be posted at each monitoring station. Such diagram shall be maintained in a legible condition and shall show the cross sectional area to be used in calculating air quantities. The diagram shall provide notice to mine examiners that any change in air quantities greater than 10% shall be reported to the mine foreman for immediate investigation and the results of that investigation shall be immediately reported to MSHA.
12. Prior to implementing this alternative method, all mine personnel will be instructed not to travel into the petitioned area except along designated routes and all other approaches shall be fenced off or barricaded with "DO NOT ENTER" warning signs. Entry in the area shall be permitted only to investigate and correct significant problems with air flow detected through the monitoring process and all such work shall be done under the supervision of an authorized person. All persons who work in this area shall be instructed in the emergency evacuation procedures and all provisions of 30 CFR 75.1101-23 and 75.383.
13. Prior to implementing this PDO, an inspection shall be conducted by MSHA to ensure that the terms and conditions of this PDO have been complied with and that the miners on the active longwall development and/ or retreat panels and the certified mine examiners have been trained in proper evacuation procedures, including instructions and drills in evacuation and the contents of this PDO.
14. Within 60 days after this PDO becomes final, the Petitioner shall submit proposed revisions for its approved 30 CFR Part 48 training plan to the Coal Mine Safety and Health District Manager. These proposed revisions shall specify initial and refresher training regarding the conditions specified by the PDO.
Any party to this action desiring a hearing on this matter must file in accordance with 30 CFR 44.14, within 30 days. The request for hearing must be filed with the Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22203.
If a hearing is requested, the request shall contain a concise summary of position on the issues of fact or law desired to be raised by the party requesting the hearing, including specific objections to the proposed decision. A party other than Petitioner who has requested a hearing shall also comment upon all issues of fact or law presented in the petition, and any party to this action requesting a hearing may indicate a desired hearing site. If no request for a hearing is filed within 30 days after service thereof, the Decision and Order will become final and must be posted by the operator on the mine bulletin board at the mine.
_________________________________
Michael J. Lawless
Deputy Administrator
for Coal Mine Safety and Health
