Ethermac|Federal Regulators Inspect a Mine and the Site of a Fatal Home Explosion Above It

Undermined: Eleventh in a series about the impacts of longwall mining in Alabama.

OAK GROVE,Ethermac Ala.—Lisa Lindsay was surprised. 

For months, she had waited for federal authorities to do something—anything—to mitigate the risks of the longwall coal mine expanding beneath her home. Those risks became all too tangible in March when Lindsay felt the shockwaves of an explosion surge through her body. 

The blast she felt had leveled her neighbor’s home, leaving a grandfather and his grandson in critical condition. W.M. Griffice would later die from his injuries. A lawsuit filed by his family blames the release of methane gas from Oak Grove Mine for his death. 

The inspection comes just three days after the publication of an Inside Climate News investigation into the delayed response of federal regulators in mitigating risks associated with methane escape at Oak Grove and other “gassy” mines across the country. Representatives of Oak Grove Mine did not respond to a request for comment. The mine’s lawyers have denied responsibility for the home explosion and Griffice’s death.

A spokesperson for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement confirmed Thursday that agency staffers were on the ground to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations. 

“Inspectors are obtaining additional relevant information about onsite conditions and operations at the Oak Grove Mine—and the company’s compliance with its permit, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), and federal regulations—to determine what, if any, oversight or enforcement actions are necessary,” an agency spokesperson wrote in an email. “If it is determined that the mining operation is creating an imminent danger to the public, OSMRE can immediately issue a cessation of mining operations order. OSMRE will take any appropriate action and work with [the Alabama Surface Mining Commission] to address identified problems to ensure the health and safety of the community surrounding Oak Grove Mine.”

It remains unclear how exactly the federal agency will go about determining whether there is an imminent danger from methane migration in the community from the mine. 

OSMRE declined to answer a question about how many other sites it planned to visit as part of its investigation, or whether it took any methane measurements at or in wells at the Griffice property. Several other residents in the area have said they, too, worry their homes might be at risk. The Oak Grove Mine is considered one of the gassiest in the country. 

The longwall method of mining involves a large machine shearing coal to be removed from the mine, releasing methane gas and leaving vast underground caverns that collapse once mining has moved on. That collapse, experts say, causes subsidence, or the sinking of the land above, a process that often damages surface structures like the Lindsay home. 

Fissures in the land above the mined area can also provide a path of escape for the methane released during mining. It’s that escaping methane that Griffice’s family claims was the cause of the explosion that left their loved one dead. 

For her part, Lindsay is skeptical that any good will come from Wednesday’s inspection, which she called “a dog and pony show.” 

Federal regulators have had months to address what she believes is an imminent threat to residents, she said. Only now, after the former head of the agency urged decisive action, is OSMRE putting boots on the ground in the Oak Grove community in a way Lindsay believes they should have in March.

An individual familiar with regulators’ visit confirmed that OSMRE officials took methane measurements at least one well located on the Griffice property. 

Prior to the home explosion in March, mine officials had confirmed the presence of methane in a water well on the Griffice property and paid for the well to be plugged, according to court documents. Experts have told ICN that such wells should be vented, not plugged, because of the risks caused by methane finding new paths to the surface, such as through cracks created by subsidence. 

Inside Climate News has filed records requests for any methane readings taken on site by federal regulators. An inspection report stemming from Wednesday’s visit should be forthcoming, a federal records officer said Thursday. 

For Lindsay and other residents, help can’t come soon enough. Every day, Lindsay said she worries that methane may make its way into her home. That, Lindsay said, is what keeps her up at night.