CNN "American Morning" - Transcripts
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CHETRY: Alina Cho following the latest on this story for us. Thanks.
And right now, we're crossing over the half hour. And we want to take you live to the news conference that's taking place in Naoma, West Virginia.
Here is West Virginia governor, Joe Manchin.
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GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), WEST VIRGINIA: Let me just -- we just got a breakdown (ph) -- the one hole was through, they come through about -- they cut through 1,093 feet, about 4:15 is when they went through. Pipes were still on there. They did what they are supposed to do, which is they banged on the pipes for about 15 minutes or so, and they're pulling the pipes back out now from hole number one.
Hole number two, which is right beside number one, is down about 500 feet. Hole number three is down about 100 or so feet. And they'll be starting on hole number four.
Hole number one, they are putting the fans -- as they pull the pipe out, they'll put the fans out and then start monitoring that air to find out what we have. We still think we're in that 10:00 to 2:00 period when we're going to have some real good data to make a decision. And at that, we're hoping that we can get the mine and the air safe enough to get our rescue teams back in sometime this afternoon.
So, the timetables were still the same as we thought they would be. The drilling went better on hole number one than anticipated. They got through quicker.
We did not get any response back from, if you will, the beating on the pipes, signaling. But that doesn't -- you know, as I talked to the families, and they -- most the families stayed all night. We just briefed them and they are resilient as you know, and they're still prayerful and very hopeful that we still have a miracle maybe. But they understand that.
REPORTER: Can you give us the status of the two miners that were transported --
MANCHIN: We're going to check -- I want to make sure I get that this morning. I was asked that question. I'm not sure that we know that we have one in our Charleston hospital and one in Beckley Hospital. We'll get you a complete update.
REPORTER: Do you know there is some information that's circulating about the fact that one of them died?
MANCHIN: We heard that this morning. We have not -- we can't confirm anything because I really don't know.
REPORTER: Governor, can you describe the seismic test, as I understand it is, when there is some banging on the pipe. How does that work?
MANCHIN: Where is Kevin? Hold on, we have -- they've been monitoring all of that.
REPORTER: In the meantime, (INAUDIBLE), give us an update. I know you were with the families all night. Tell us about that.
MANCHIN: The families are still there. And we just went back and briefed again this morning as we've been doing. And these are very, very strong people, strong in their faith and strong in their family. And I knew they'd be vigilant and they were vigilant all night long and they're still waiting and still prayerful and very hopeful and very appreciative.
They want -- they want the press and everybody to know that they appreciate this time that the privacy and I've explained to them. And they said if -- they said they were concerned about some of the names that were coming out and they wanted to keep that as private as possible. This is -- today is going to be a big day. I think, at the end of the day, we'll have more knowledge than what we have right now. And we want to be as helpful as we can to the families and supportive. We appreciate that very much.
Joe, on that, they were asking about the seismics and everything. I told about the one hole that we had down and it went through about 4:15. The second hole they are working on. Holes one and two will be used mostly for -- Kevin, I believe basically for monitoring and testing the air and all that right, venting?
KEVIN STRICKLIN, U.S. MINE SAFETY & HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: Yes, the intent now that hole number one is through is to put a high pressure exhaust fan on it and actually start to begin to pull that bad air out of the mine. Clear the long wall 22 section area out. And once that is complete and we see at the surface of the bore hole number one that with the fan on it, that's it clear air, then that will allow the mine rescue team to advance underground without the possibility of another explosion, that earlier pulled us out of the mine for that reason.
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REPORTER: -- from point where the 18 miners were found inside, what kind of distance are we looking at?
STRICKLIN: Well, we have about 1,000 feet left to go in the long wall 22 section, and that's the area where we have three men unaccounted for. In addition, we have one on the long wall -- in the long wall area that we're going to have to backtrack and go back in that area as well.
REPORTER: How did you know where the fourth guy is? The three together and one separate. How did you come to that conclusion?
STRICKLIN: Basically, there were eight people that were found near the long wall and we knew there were nine working in the area. Now, there's a chance that the individual could have got away from there, had other duties. But, I mean, just -- it's logical to think that he's somewhere in the area where the other eight were.
REPORTER: How far back in there from the portal is that area in feet or miles?
STRICKLIN: About 8,000 feet from where the men are actually entering the mine up here to where the furthest distance of the furthest point of travel would be.
REPORTER: How close do you think the drill shaft came into where you think the three men are and how close to the refuge chamber?
STRICKLIN: It's about 300 to 400 feet from the refuse chamber. And it should be -- if the men were working in the phase where typically you would be expect people to be working, it should be within 200 feet because we have three entries in there. We're not sure which entry the men were working in. But the bore hole went in one of those three entries and they are separated by -- if we took a ruler went across, there would be 300 feet from one end of where the mining goes on to the other.
REPORTER: If that hole went in 300 or 400 feet from the refuse chamber, could they have heard the banging on the pipes with the seismic test?
STRICKLIN: Well, it's very difficult to hear the banging on the pipes or seismic test on the surface if -- let me -- I'm not sure if you're asking the question, would they hear it underground or would we hear it on the surface.
REPORTER: Underground.
STRICKLIN: Underground, you'd be able to hear the drilling that was going on into the mines if you were in the refuse chamber.
REPORTER: Can you explain the process of sending that pipe down and banging on it? Just explain how that works.
STRICKLIN: OK, there's no pipe that goes down. I mean, the pipe that goes down is basically used for the drilling purposes to ensure that when we start sucking the air of the mine, we're not pulling the air from the voids of the mines that were mine above us. We have to have a total casing that goes down into the mine that we want to ventilate. And that's the intent to taking it the whole way down to 1,093 feet into the coal seam that we're involved in.
As far as the seismic, what it is, is there's holes drilled from the surface down a certain distance and there's microphones stuck into those holes. Now, miners are trained that when they hear shots go on the surface to pound on the mine roof. Now, naturally, if they're in a refuge alternative or a chamber, they won't be pounding on the mine roof but they will be pounding on the top of a refuge chamber.
And as I mentioned yesterday, it's very sketchy, it's very -- it's a very much a long shot as well because of the overburden that we're talking here, 1, 093 feet. That's a large distance for people on the surface to be able to detect someone pounding not on a mine roof in this case, on the roof of a refuse chamber. But it's something that we think is important to at least try to do.
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REPORTER: -- after the seismic tests where you actually hear pounding, have you ever found anybody alive after that?
STRICKLIN: We have not.
REPORTER: You haven't done seismic --
STRICKLIN: We've done -- we've done seismic tests throughout the country, but we have not rescued anybody with the use of the seismic equipment.
REPORTER: But have you done that in this situation. (INAUDIBLE)
STRICKLIN: This will be -- well, we hooked up the seismic equipment yesterday and they are listening on the surface, but we have not put off the three shots. In other words, if there were miners in the refuge chamber, they would not know that we were doing this until they heard the three shots go off on the surface. But we have been monitoring it all night long to see if there is any detection picked up.
But the he problem is, with all this drilling going on in such a close proximity, that a lot of the noise we're hearing with those microphones naturally are going to be the drilling process that's actually going on. We need a quiet period where nothing is being used, no equipment is being used. Everything shuts down for a short period of time, put the three shots off, and then we'll watch the monitoring equipment, the seismic equipment, to see if anything is detected.
REPORTER: What exactly are they, Kevin? Are they shot -- they are not gunshots, you're banging on the pipe or what?
STRICKLIN: No. It's like basically setting off some dynamite charges on the surface that can be heard through the earth underground.
REPORTER: Kevin, how do you intend to do that today?
STRICKLIN: That's a decision that the state, the company and MHSA will have to make after we determine exactly where we're at this morning.
REPORTER: Kevin, you said yesterday with 90 percent certainty you know where the three trapped miners are. Can you describe that area, how large is it, and is there a refuge chamber close by that area?
STRICKLIN: There is a refuse chamber close by. And I said, we got a 1,000 foot window from where we -- the rescue teams were last at until the face of this area where the extent of the mining could be. And we only have three entries that are 20-foot wide.
So, we're basically looking at an area of 20 feet wide by 1,000 feet long for three separate entries. It could be like the size of the room here, just multiply that by, if it was 20 feet wide, times 1,800 feet, would be the finite area the people would be located in.
REPORTER: After the Sago disaster, there was the Mine Safety Act that mandated certain things to put in place to help in a case like this. It's my understanding that some of these things weren't implemented at that mine. Could you tell us some of the things that were not implemented and how that would have helped this rescue operation?
STRICKLIN: You know, I'm not sure what wasn't implemented. I know they had refuge alternatives underground, additional SCSRs, lifelines and more stronger seal. So, I don't know that I have the opinion that it hasn't been implemented in this mine. If it wasn't, that's something our investigation will determine.
REPORTER: Kevin, based of what the miner rescue team found, can you estimate roughly the distance between where you think these people are and the blast initiation?
STRICKLIN: It would be too early for any of us to decide where that initial blast was at. That's something the investigation will have to tell us.
REPORTER: Governor, are there any developments overnight with the two injured parties --
MANCHIN: We just asked that question. And at this point, I do not know. I've heard the same -- the same concerns that you have. We'll find out. In our next briefing, we'll give you a complete update on that.
REPORTER: OK.
MANCHIN: Let me say also that people have asked questions about thinking that there were still mining continuing in this mine. There is no mining going on. So that has been kind of a false or misnomer. But there's no mining. It's just - - basically, we're still in the recovery. And doing everything we can to recover and find the four rescue effort.
Joe, do you have anything on --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I think you've pretty well covered it. We're going to have another meeting with the families here in about less than two hours and update the families. But, thank you.
MANCHIN: The families -- the families --
CHETRY: All right. We're getting -- so, we got an update right now from Ken Stricklin as well as governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin, and others about the progress that they've made, John. It's interesting they talked about the fact that they were able to at least reach with one of drills all the way down into the mine.
They're going to start either trying to do some ventilation and some air testing and they've made some progress 500 feet with the hole number two and down 100 feet or so with hole number three and they're still saying it will probably be between 10:00 in the morning and 2:00 in the afternoon before they make a decision on whether or not they can send rescue crews back into the mine to look for survivors.
ROBERTS: Yes, as the governor said, it's going to be a very big day. And this is a bit of a change as well because we heard varying theories on how long it was going to take to get that hole drilled and how long it would take to get the air ventilated out. It seems like things are progressing a little more quickly than the CEO of the company told me yesterday -- which is a good thing for the families who have been waiting so long to find out the fate of those four missing miners.
And let's not -- also not forget in a there are a number of miners who are still in the mine who have confirmed -- or confirmed dead who have not yet been identified. So, you know, there's just so much tension and the anxiety, Kiran, as these families are waiting to find some information.
But as the governor was saying, they seem to be very appreciative of the efforts that are underway now to try to reach those people. They're very prayerful. They're sort of banding together and have been there for the last couple of days just really trying to cope with all of this. You can imagine just how difficult it would be.
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