Performance Coal Company

The Upper Big Branch explosion was not an unavoidable feature of underground coal mining. On 5 April 2010, a methane ignition developed into a coal-dust explosion across a large part of the mine, killing 29 miners and seriously injuring two. Federal and West Virginia investigators identified failed defenses that were familiar, required and controllable: ventilation, methane detection, water sprays, equipment condition, removal of combustible accumulations, rock dust, examinations, records and enforcement. The lasting question is whether every organization with power over those defenses can now show not only a rule or inspection, but timely evidence that hazards are found, corrected and independently challenged before production continues.