The Quecreek Mine rescue took place in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, when nine miners were trapped underground for over 77 hours, from July 24 to 28, 2002. All nine miners were rescued.
Accident On July 24, eighteen coal miners at the Quecreek Mine () in Lincoln Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, owned by Black Wolf Coal Company, accidentally dug into the abandoned, poorly documented Saxman Coal / Harrison #2 Mine, flooding the room and pillar mine with an estimated of water. Both the Saxman Mine and Quecreek Mine are in the Upper Kittanning coal seam. The Upper Kittanning seam locally ranges in thickness from and dips 1.7 to 2.3 degrees (3 to 4 percent) to the northwest.
The structural geology of the area caused the flooded mine void of the shallower Saxman Mine to be at a higher elevation than the active Quecreek Mine. The Saxman mine was located along the axis of the anticlinal Boswell Dome and the Quecreek Mine on the western flank of the anticline. The mine was opened by Quemahoning Creek Coal Company in 1913 as Quecreek No. 2 mine. Saxman Coal and Coke Company purchased the mine in 1925 and mined it until 1963 with an idle period from 1934 through 1941. The mine had also been named Saxman, Harrison, and most recently, Harrison No. 2. The miners were working on July 24 in the 1-Left panel. The 1-Left panel was driven up dip from the Mains for approximately . The flooded abandoned mine was located immediately up-dip of the Quecreek #1 mine permit boundary in the Upper Kittanning coal seam.
At approximately 9p.m. on Wednesday, July 24, the eighteen miners were in danger underground, below the fields of Dormel Farm when the flooded Saxman mine was breached as the mining progressed eastward. Water had broken through the face and was inundating the entry, and the nine miners in the 1-Left panel area used the mine's phone system to notify the other group of nine miners in the 2-Left panel to evacuate immediately. These miners were able to escape at around 9:45p.m. and alert others, and a 911 call was made at 9:53p.m. However, the mine was flooding too rapidly for the miners in the 1-Left panel area to evacuate. Twice they tried to travel in the four-foot-high tunnels over to a shaft that would lead them to the surface, but these were also flooded. Back on the surface, Pennsylvania State Police were guarding the Quecreek mine site by 10:30p.m., and instructed reporters to go to the local church for a press conference scheduled to occur later that night. State Police Cpl. Robert Barnes Jr. also telephoned families of missing miners asking them to come to the Sipesville firehouse for more information. Around 11p.m., Barnes also asked a local United Methodist pastor, Barry Ritenour, if he could spend the night at the firehouse with the families. In addition, calls were made between 11:30p.m. and 12a.m. to find a drill that could bore a hole big enough to raise men from a mine. One was located in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
Water continued to rise in the mine during the morning hours of Thursday, July 25. During this time period, water levels rose to the portal entrance (by means inward from mine entrance portal), as follows:
Time Elevation (ft.) Location 12:15a.m. 1788.0 1,900’ in portals 12:55a.m. 1795.0 1,700’ in portals 3:10a.m. 1805.0 1,450’ in portals 4:54a.m. 1810.0 1,350’ in portals 6:11a.m. 1820.0 1,000’ in portals 6:35a.m. 1822.0 900’ in portals 8:40a.m. 1836.0 40’ in portals 9:15a.m. 1836.0+ Water coming out portals.
Rescue operations
Initial response
With the mine portal entrances to Quecreek mine nearly under water, rescue operations started immediately. While pumping water would begin at all mine locations and any nearby residential and commercial water wells, the mine rescue first focused on getting air to the trapped miners. With the help of Bob Long, an engineer technician for Civil Mining Environmental Engineering, GPS measurements were made and a borehole was begun at 2:05a.m. The borehole was drilled to allow air to be pumped into the mineshaft where the miners were presumed to be, at the most up dip location near where the Saxman mine was breached. A four-member team started working about 3:15a.m. Thursday, and its drill cracked through what turned out to be of rock, and into the mine shaft 1 hour and 45 minutes later. On July 25, at 5:06a.m., approximately 8 hours after the breakthrough, the hole was drilled into the mine. The drilling rig's air compressor pushed air into the mine, and the air returns from the borehole showed a marginal air quality of 19.3 percent oxygen. Rescue workers tapped on the inserted air pipe, and at 5:12a.m. received three strong bangs in response, followed by nine taps at 11:40a.m.
However, while the drilling rig's compressed air rapidly increased the oxygen content of the mine air, monitors showed the rising water was approaching above sea level, and rescuers feared they had perhaps an hour before the area where the miners had taken refuge would be under water. Mine ventilation expert John Urosek, of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), proposed creating a pressurized air pocket for the miners. Urosek's plan had never been tested in the United States, but despite some skepticism, calculations were made, and the hole was sealed around the air supply. The drill operator then used his rig's air compressor to pump and maintain 920 cubic feet per minute at a temperature of at . The sound due to the high rate of pumped air deafened and hurt the miner's ears, but provided hope by the knowledge that rescuers knew where they were.
Drilling and efforts to slow flooding
Meanwhile, an ongoing battle was to dewater the Quecreek Mine to allow rescue operations to be planned. Millions of gallons of water had to be pumped from the flooded coal mines as the water level needed to be lowered to prevent the loss of the air pocket in the mine area where the nine miners would congregate. Should a rescue hole penetrate the mine, the air pocket could escape and the air filled void area become flooded, and the miners would drown. The second grave concern was the quality of the air in the mine. Pumps were set up as they became available.
Work proceeded immediately to install pumps in the pit as they arrived. At 8:33a.m. Thursday, the first of several diesel pumps arrived at the mine site. Before this pump arrived, only two submersible pumps were operating in the sump area of the pit. At 11:05a.m., water was four to five feet deep in the mine pit entrance. Water in the pit reached a maximum elevation of at approximately 4:00p.m., Thursday, July 25.
High-capacity diesel pumps were installed in the pit and put into operation in the afternoon. A drop in the water level was reported between 4:00 and 6:00p.m. The pumping discharge rate fluctuated constantly as new pumps arrived and changes were made. The maximum pumping rate achieved was approximately 27,000 gpm at the mine pit. Additional borehole locations were surveyed on the surface for holes to be drilled into the lowest area in the mine. Additional dewater holes were drilled to accelerate dewatering.
Back underground, rising water covered the air shaft, preventing the miners from tapping on the pipe, though for a time they used a hammer to bang on the rock ceiling, detectable by seismic equipment which was brought in by Federal mining officials. By noon Thursday, the miners had to retreat to the highest ground, about from the airshaft, near Entry No. 1. With water rising away, miner Randy Fogle estimated that they had about an hour left to live. Notes were written, prayers were said, and most of the miners roped themselves together, to die as a family. However, as dewatering continued, they noticed and confirmed the water had ceased to rise. Switching to survival mode, the drenched miners sought to conserve resources and sat back to back to fight hypothermia in their environment. Crew chief Fogle in particular encouraged them, confident of rescue. Dennis Hall's lunch pail was discovered floating and was retrieved, with the still dry corned beef sandwich his wife had made him, and a bottle of Pepsi, while Thomas Foy found two Mountain Dews on one of their machines. The miners at this point could hear the drilling getting nearer, but at 1:50a.m. Friday it stopped.
Issues during drilling operation
A "super drill", capable of drilling a hole, had been sent with police escort up from West Virginia. Once oxygen purging began, drillers had begun the 30-inch Rescue Hole No. 1 at 6:45p.m., Thursday, July 25, to intersect 1-Left section. It was located approximately away from the ventilation hole, and was drilled to a depth by 1:12 a.m., Friday, July 26, when the drill bit broke. The distance from this point to the mine was estimated at . At 3:45a.m. a portion of the bit was retrieved from the hole, but it was discovered that part of the bit had broken off and remained stuck in the hole. A special tool needed to be fabricated in order to assist in retrieving the bit. Normally, such a job would be done in three or four days, but a 95-member machine shop in Big Run, Jefferson County, was able to build the tool in approximately three hours. A National Guard helicopter flew the tool in, and the bit was retrieved from Rescue Hole No. 1 at 4:09p.m. on July 26.
The failure of drilling equipment stopped progress at this borehole for about 18 hours. The miners were concerned. Fogle opined that they might have plugged up or might have broken a bit, and reassured the others that drilling would surely begin again. The miners' relatives were taken to the mine on the afternoon of the 25th and briefed on the rescue effort. Governor Mark Schweiker visited the site that night, said at a news briefing later that they "are in a very fragile state. We may need a little help from the Almighty." He also stated that "We are bringing every asset that is necessary to complete this rescue operation", and that anything less than the rescue of all nine of the men would be unacceptable.
Many from around the world called, emailed, and prayed in support of the rescue. The news media covered the story with optimistic reporting. Many were returning to stay at the same Somerset hotels they had previously occupied while covering the United Airlines Flight 93 crash site, located away, less than a year earlier.
Resumption of drilling
A new bit arrived from West Virginia at 7:00p.m. Friday, but due to its nominally larger size, the hole had to be enlarged from the surface. This operation started at approximately 8:40p.m. on Friday. Enlarging the first rescue hole with the new bit began at 1a.m. on July 27, but later stopped to replace the sleeve. At 2:30p.m. drilling was stopped again as the operation damaged the outer cutting bits and a new bit assembly was needed. At 3:30a.m. a decision was made to change to a bit since there was one available south of the mine in Somerset, and it would accommodate the rescue capsule. At 6:30a.m. the installation of the new 26-inch bit was completed and drilling resumed.
One possibility that was feared at this point was that of breaking into the chamber too quickly, resulting in the water in the mine rushing upward and drowning the miners. An additional and possibly fatal danger was that of the miners being afflicted with decompression sickness, due to their breathing air which was at a higher pressure than the surface pressure, due to the pressure of the surrounding water. In preparation for these possibilities, an airlock was fashioned to go on top of the escape shaft, and on Thursday evening, 10 portable hyperbaric chambers arrived at the drilling site. Drilling continued until 1:38p.m. on July 27, when it was stopped to install the air lock and wait for the water to be pumped down to an elevation of mean sea level (MSL), approximately below the portal elevation.