The Darby Mine No. 1 disaster in

Harlan County, Kentucky Harlan County is a county located in southeastern Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,831. Its county seat is Harlan. It is classified as a moist countya county in which alcohol sales are prohibited (a dry county), but conta ...

, USA, on May 20, 2006 killed five miners and left one survivor.

Cause of the explosion

As reported in a May 23, 2006 story in

The Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...

, "Investigator thinks methane to blame for Darby mine explosion," by Deborah Yetter and Tom Loftus, at a news conference in

Holmes Mill, Kentucky Holmes Mill is an unincorporated community in Harlan County, Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It bord ...

on May 22, 2006, Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for Kentucky's ''Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet'' announced that investigators entered the mine for the first time since the explosion on May 22. 2006. He said that Tracy Stumbo, chief investigator at the Kentucky ''Office of Mine Safety and Licensing'', was "pretty satisfied it was a

methane explosion Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the relea ...

...Our chief investigator said he had no reason to think

coal dust Coal dust is a fine powdered form of which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal. It is a form o ...

was a factor". Kentucky Governor

Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician. In 1998, he was elected to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives; he resigned in 2003 after being elected the 60th ...

told reporters on May 22, as he left the Capitol to attend funeral visitation for the victims, "I think we have a preliminary cause right now, and that's an explosion that occurred from a contained area that apparently was leaking...That's why we went about setting a new protocol to check all of the non-conventional containment procedures. So we're fairly confident that is where the explosion began". Asked whether the seals would be banned, Fletcher replied, "I would not go that far at this time. But I think it does certainly behoove us to check the integrity of these non-conventional seals and make sure they are, in fact, working as they should....It's a substantial number and it could have a tremendous impact on coal mining if there was a systemic problem that was determined regarding these non-conventional seals". Official MSHA report on the explosion can be viewed here: http://arlweb.msha.gov/Fatals/2006/Darby/FTL06c2731.pdf

Background of the operator

John D. North and Ralph Napier owned and controlled the mine when the disaster occurred, and the mine had delinquent fines from the Mine Safety and Health Administration when the disaster occurred. Delinquent fines against Kentucky Darby after the accident stood at $593,107, but the men had eight other companies with $2.3 million in delinquent fines spread over eight other companies that they control together or separately. As of September 2014, Mine Safety and Health News (www.minesafety.com) and National Public Radio (www.npr.org) reported in a partnership story that MSHA penalties for the 2006 mine disaster remained unpaid, along with fines for violations at the other operations. While the mines are now closed, Kentucky state records show that Ralph Napier, with his son, had registered a new mining company. Under the 1977 Mine Act, MSHA may not close a mine for penalties unpaid for mining violations. An operator (individual or company) is free to go an open another mine, or keep operating the mine where delinquent penalties prevail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darby Mine No. 1 Disaster Coal mining disasters in Kentucky Harlan County, Kentucky 2006 mining disasters 2006 disasters in the United States 2006 in Kentucky