Mine accidents push number of mine deaths to nine this year

Mine accidents push number of mine deaths to nine this year

Washington (Platts)--14Jun2005


A pair of fatal accidents Friday has pushed up deaths in the nation's coal
mines to nine so far this year.

One accident was in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and the other in Armstrong
County, Pa. Both were at underground operations, both involved young roof-bolt
operators and both were within an hour of each other.

Perhaps most worrisome to mine safety officials is that there have been four
fatal accidents in US coal mines within the last 10 days, all underground. In
the past, after a series of fatal accidents so close together, federal mine
safety officials have performed safety "blitzes" at mines across the country,
which have included surprise inspections and educational sessions.

However, at this point, the US Mine Safety and Health Administration hasn't
announced such an initiative, and a spokeswoman with the Pennsylvania Dept. of
Environmental Protection, which oversees the Bureau of Deep Mine Safety, said
she hadn't heard of any such federal actions.

In Pennsylvania, Boyd A. Beer Jr., a 26-year-old roof-bolt operator, was
fatally injured Friday at 5:50 pm when a roof fall occurred in a section of
Rosebud Mining's Tracy Lynne mine. That section remains shut down, the DEP
spokeswoman said, until the accident investigation is complete. The company,
which employed 33 workers at the mine, is working other parts of the mine, the
spokeswoman said. She couldn't comment on the status of production. The mine
produced a little over 504,000 tons last year and just over 124,800 tons so
far this year from the Lower Kittanning seam. This is the first underground
mine fatality in Pennsylvania since 2003, DEP said.

In Ohio, James E. Wright, a 24-year-old roof-bolt operator, was fatally
injured Friday at 4:45 pm when he was caught under the front end of a shuttle
car at Tusky Coal's Tusky #1 mine. The shutdown order has since been lifted
and the mine is back in production, an MSHA spokeswoman said. That mine
produced 106,195 tons last year and 54,782 tons so far this year.

This story was originally published in Platts Coal Trader
http://www.coaltrader.platts.com

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