Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the anthracite and bituminous ...

454 Reports of the Inspectors of Mines. [Off. Doc,
which the casing- is withdrawn, and the upper section of said wells will
invariably become filled for some distance with sediment from the surface,
beneath which the well, will be full of g-as held under pressure, for if the
plug-s be properly placed, the g-as will certainly find its way above them
throug-h the crevices in the strata. Now, if this state of thing-s is to con-
tinue without leg-islative interference, what will be the result hereafter,
Avhen the wells and their locations are forg-otten, and when this coal
property is needed for actual development? Will any person with a
practical knowledg-e of coal mining- assert that shafts can be sunk and
the coal extracted where those old oil and g-as wells are located without a
constant repetition of dire calamities, involving- appalling- destruction of
human life every time the miner's pick would penetrate one of those old
drill holes? So much so that mining- in such locations would be rendered
impossible, of course, some of the people engag-ed in the oil and g-as
business will try to ridicule this comment, but we have a rig-ht to our
opinion and think it can be substantiated. At any rate we argue
in favor of economy and safety in the future (perhaps when we are
no more), and we would mention the fact that the Hill Farm disaster,
where 31 lives were lost, was the result of a miner striking: his pick into
a drill hole and liberating water and ^as therefrom, and this drill hole
was only drilled from the surface to the coal bed a little over five hundred
feet, had it been down to the oil and g-as rock, the dangler would
have been an hundred fold greater. If our surmises are well founded, and
we believe them to be so; the question naturally arises what, if any, pre-
cautions can be taken to preserve the wealth contained in our coal beds
for future use, and to prevent such calamities as above mentioned? In
answer to this we are of the opinion that effective safegruards can be ap-
plied if undertaken promptly, and we would offer the following sugges-
tions for consideration, namely, that all wells when abandoned be se-
curely plugged immediately above the oil or gas-bearing rock, after
which they be filled up to a point above the upper coal bed with a suitable
grade of cement which will harden and become solid under water, this
cement being lowered into the well in a partial liquid state would likely
penetrate and close any crevices in the strata in connection with the well,
and would effectually resist the pressure of gas from below and prevent
its escape into the upper or coal-bearing strata. In filling the upper
part of the wells from the base of the lower productive coal measures,
fine broken stone could be mixed with the cement which would lessen
the cost, as this part of the filling would only be required to close up the
hole so as to leave no space for an accumulation of gas or water to lodge
in; this being done, I think the danger would be averted and the coal
would be preserved for future requirements, and could be mined without
the apprehension of disaster every time a well was encountered. As an
additional precaution, every drill-hole should be correctly located on maps
to be preserved in the county buildings or some other suitable place for