Description: <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>A Vertical Ventilation Hole (VVH), also referred to as a Methane Production Hole (MPH), is a borehole drilled from the surface to an underlying coal seam. Its primary purpose is to enhance safety by extracting methane gas from the coal seam and surrounding strata, thereby reducing methane levels in the mine’s ventilation system. Beginning in the 1970s, throughout the 1980s, and into the early 1990s, VVHs were the predominant method for removing methane gas from coal mines with high methane emissions. Because VVHs release methane directly into the atmosphere, mine operators began shifting in the early 1990s toward Coalbed Methane (CBM) wells, which capture the methane for commercial use as natural gas.</SPAN></P><P><SPAN>This point dataset of Vertical Ventilation Holes in Virginia was created using historical maps and applications available to the Virginia Department of Energy, or its predecessor agency. It is considered incomplete and may be updated as additional historical maps and applications are discovered. Many VVHs likely exist in Virginia but are not included in this dataset. No guarantees are made regarding the accuracy of this data, which is provided for representational purposes only. </SPAN></P><P /><P><SPAN /></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>
Service Item Id: 5a9718851458447fa1e987b074237237
Copyright Text: Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Energy