A Wyoming County couple says the buildup of methane gas from an underground mining operation caused an explosion at their home Sunday - a week after the couple filed a lawsuit against the mining company.
James and Rose Surratt, who own two properties on Woosley Road in Pineville, filed a motion Tuesday asking for emergency injunctive relief against Pinnacle Mining Co. James Surratt is an underground coal miner for Pinnacle. The company is in the beginning process of setting up an underground longwall mine that runs, in part, underneath Woosley Road.
In addition to the lawsuit filed last week by the Surratts, other residents and a small-business owner on or near Woosley Road also filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Pinnacle Mining for damages that allegedly occurred after the company began operations in their area. Charleston attorney Roger Decanio, with the Masters Law Firm, represents all of the Woosley Road plaintiffs.
The emergency motion filed this week by the Surratts, though, asks that a judge order Pinnacle to do more than the lawsuits request to ensure the safety of the residents along Woosley Road and their properties after the explosion.
After turning on the washing machine to do laundry Sunday afternoon, "methane gas exploded causing serious damages to the interior and exterior of the home," the emergency motion states. The home relies on well water, which, the filing states, is known to be a conduit of methane gas from mining activity. Various families that live in the area also have active wells, according to the motion.
An environmental engineer inspected the home the day after the explosion and concluded methane gas that had been detected under the home by firefighters after the explosion, was coming from Pinnacle's operation below the house, the motion states. That's what caused the blast, the Surratts' filing states.
The couple wants Wyoming County Circuit Judge Warren McGraw to order a team of engineers to regularly inspect the homes on Woosley Road to see if methane gas is seeping from Pinnacle's operations. The motion asks that the inspection results be reported to McGraw and the state Department of Environmental Protection. The filing also asks that McGraw order Pinnacle to cap all the wells along the Woosley Road area with cement to prohibit methane gas from escaping.
No one was injured in the explosion. All the wells in the area need to be sealed off to prevent further migration of explosive gas, according to the emergency motion.
"The residents of Woosley Road and especially the Surratt family will be irreparably harmed if there is no immediate action. Methane gas could be building up again over Pinnacle's mine and there could be another explosion," the motion states.
Residents and the Surratts had already asked McGraw to look into Pinnacle's longwall mining operation underneath their properties.
Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining in which a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice, according to the lawsuits filed by Decanio. When longwall mining begins, pillars that provide some support are removed to allow for higher volumes of coal-clearance.
Plaintiffs say the company has begun leaving the support columns underground, which has caused, among other things, the walls in their homes to crack and separate from their structures. Removing the pillars will cause the surface to cave in and result in more property damage for the plaintiffs, they claim in their complaints.
The owners of Center Food & Fuel are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Pinnacle. The mining operation near the gas station's underground fuel storage tanks creates an imminent threat, the lawsuits claim.
Both lawsuits ask that a judge order the company to stop pursuing longwall mining and removing the pillars underneath their properties. Alternatively, the company should at least stop mining whatsoever under the gas station to avoid endangering the community from the possibility of breached fuel tanks, the complaints state.
For the time being, the plaintiffs ask that Pinnacle bypass the areas directly under the plaintiffs' homes and mine elsewhere, until the lawsuits have been resolved.
"Plaintiffs do not seek a stoppage of mining all together, just a proclivity from mining under their properties. Consequently, any economic harm would be negligible if at all," the lawsuits state.
Reach Kate White at
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