Tag: Coal Mine Fatality

MSHA Report: Coal Miner Died After Falling Off A Supply Car

The Mine Safety and Health Administration published a preliminary report on the death of 38-year-old William Richards at the Tunnel Ridge Mine in Valley Grove.

Federal investigators released more details about a coal miner who was killed last week in Ohio County.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration published a preliminary report on the death of 38-year-old William Richards at the Tunnel Ridge Mine in Valley Grove.

Richards, who had 13 years of experience, fell off a supply car and was pinned between the car and its coupler.

His death is the third in a West Virginia coal mine accident this year and the seventh nationally. An eighth coal miner died on Tuesday in New Mexico, according to MSHA.

The Tunnel Ridge Mine is owned by Alliance Resource Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

According to a company press release, it saw its revenue increase 70 percent to $616 million in the second quarter of 2022 from a year earlier on high coal prices and strong sales.

There were five coal mine fatalities in 2020, the lowest number on record going back to 1900. As the industry recovered from the pandemic, 10 miners were killed on the job in 2021.

West Virginia Coal Miner Killed At Murray Energy Mine

A West Virginia coal miner died while working at a Murray Energy mine, Gov. Jim Justice’s office said Tuesday, Dec. 24.

Raymond Leonard Starkey Jr., 21, of New Martinsville, was fatally injured Monday while helping to repair a beltline at the Marshall County Coal Company Mine near Cameron, Justice’s office said in a news release.

“This is especially devastating news to learn on Christmas Eve, but we know that West Virginians will come together during this tragedy and surround his family with love and support,” Justice and first lady Cathy Justice said in the statement.

Eugene White, director of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety, and Training, went to the scene, the release said.

There have been 11 coal mining deaths nationally this year, including four in West Virginia.

Coal Miner Found Dead at Carter Roag Facility

A coal miner has died in West Virginia, the sixth mining fatality in the state this year.

In a news release, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) confirmed the fatality Friday at Carter Roag Coal Co.’s Pleasant Hill Mine on the Upshur-Randolph county border near Tallmansville, south of Buckhannon.

Carter Roag is owned by Metinvest, a mining and metals firm headquartered in Ukraine.

MSHA said Owen Mark Jones, 51, of Pickens, was found dead on the surface of the mine. The cause of death is unknown. Jones was a fireboss at the mine, according to the release. 

The mine is idle while inspectors from the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training and MSHA investigate.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his wife, Cathy, issued the following statement in response to the incident:

“Cathy and I are deeply saddened at the news of the death of one of our miners. It is especially heartbreaking to learn that this family has been devastated twice in the last 11 years by losing loved ones in the mines. Our prayers are with the Jones family, their friends and all of our dedicated miners in West Virginia.”

According to The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Owen Jones’ brother, Jesse, died in the 2006 Sago mine disaster.

MSHA said three coal miners were killed on the job in West Virginia last year. The agency said 12 coal miners have died on the job so far this year, up from eight in 2016.

West Virginia Officials Investigate Coal Miner Death

West Virginia officials are investigating the death of a coal miner.

State Department of Commerce spokeswoman Leslie Smithson says preliminary information suggests the miner at the Leer Mine in Grafton may have suffered a medical condition. She says a full investigation is under way by the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training.

WBOY-TV reports an emergency call to the Harrison-Taylor 911 Center was made at 4:15 a.m. Monday.

The miner’s name wasn’t immediately released.

It marks the second reported death at a West Virginia coal mine this year. A miner died in an accident at a Wyoming County mine on Jan. 4.

W.Va. Mine Cited in Week Prior to Fatal Accident 

Federal regulators issued more than a dozen citations to a West Virginia coal mine in the week prior to an accident that killed one worker and injured two others.

According to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration’s website, Murray Energy was cited several times for roof plans and protection from roof, face and rib falls.

Murray Energy’s owns McElroy Mine in Marshall County near Cameron where one miner died and three others were reported injured on Sunday.

West Virginia Office of Miner’s Health Health Safety and Training spokesperson Leslie Smithson says 45-year-old Assistant Longwall Coordinator John M. Garloch of Neffs, Ohio was killed.  Initial reports indicate the cause of Sunday night’s accident was a roof and rib fall.

Minority Leader Jeff Kessler addressed the entire Senate at the end of the floor session on Monday.

“It’s a constant reminder of the fact that under even the best of conditions and circumstances that coal mining is a dangerous and difficult job and occupation,” Kessler said. 

It wasn’t immediately known whether the alleged violations were in the area of the mine where the accident occurred.

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