Tag: Mine Safety

Fatality Is 2nd In Recent Months At Taylor County Mine

Colton Walls, 34, is the fifth coal miner to sustain fatal injuries on the job in West Virginia this year.

A Taylor County coal miner was killed on the job, Gov. Jim Justice said Friday, the second fatally injured in recent months at the same mine.

Colton Walls of Bruceton Mills, a longwall electrician at the Arch Resources Leer Mine, died of his injuries Friday, Justice said.

Walls, 34, is the fifth coal miner to sustain fatal injuries on the job in West Virginia this year. A total of 10 coal miners nationwide have died this year, according to federal data.

In August, another worker died at the Arch Resources Leer Mine in Taylor County. A worker died last month at the Arch Resources Mountaineer II mine in Logan County. 

The state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration are investigating.

A request for comment from Arch Resources did not result in an immediate response. St. Louis-based Arch and Consol Energy, of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, plan to merge early next year to form Core Natural Resources.

Coal Miner’s Death In Logan County Is State’s 4th This Year

According to a preliminary report from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the 33-year-old miner was struck by a rock that fell from an unsupported mine roof.

West Virginia recorded its fourth coal mine fatality this year, according to federal mine safety officials.

Gary Chapman, of South Williamson, Kentucky, died on Friday of injuries he sustained at the Arch Resources Mountaineer II Mine in Logan County.

According to a preliminary report from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the 33-year-old miner was struck by a rock that fell from an unsupported mine roof.

Chapman had 12 years of experience and was working as a continuous mining machine operator at the time he was killed. MSHA and the state Office of Miners Safety, Health and Training are investigating Chapman’s death.

There have been eight coal mine fatalities nationwide this year, according to MSHA. West Virginia has the highest number of mine workers of any state.

Last month, a worker was killed in Taylor County when he was attempting to fix a mine car.

A Camping Ban In Morgantown And Mine Rescue Training This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Morgantown’s tries to address homelessness with a camping ban, and training above ground miners how to rescue their coworkers.

On this West Virginia Morning, Morgantown’s City Council passed a camping ban aimed at addressing homelessness in the city. As Chris Schulz reports, Morgantown is the third municipality in the state to pass such a ban in the past year.

Also, deaths in the mining industry hit a nearly decade high last year, with most occurring in surface mines. But as Kentucky Public Radio’s Justin Hicks reports there are fewer opportunities to train above ground miners how to rescue their coworkers.

And an anticipated special session of the West Virginia Legislature is announced.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Report Shows Cause Of Death For Coal Miner In Taylor County

A preliminary report from the Mine Safety And Health Administration says William J. Crandall was fatally injured while attempting to rerail a longwall electrical power car.

New details have emerged about how a coal miner was killed in Taylor County last week.

A preliminary report from the Mine Safety And Health Administration says William J. Crandall was fatally injured while attempting to rerail a longwall electrical power car.

The MSHA report says Crandall was struck in the head on Aug. 5 at the Arch Resources Tygart Valley Leer Mine and died of his injuries two days later.

Crandall, 57, had been on the job for 11 years. Crandall’s death is the third this year of a coal miner in West Virginia.

MSHA categorized Crandall’s cause of death as powered haulage, mobile mining equipment. That is a leading category for serious and fatal injuries at the nation’s mines, and not just coal.

A miner died last month in Pennsylvania in another powered haulage accident. So did 33-year-old Ashley Cogar, a truck driver who was killed last month in Wyoming County, West Virginia.

MSHA Report: Mine Worker Was Struck By A Front-End Loader

Ashley Cogar, a 34-year-old truck driver, was struck by the bucket of a front-end loader on July 12. Cogar later died of her injuries.

A preliminary report from federal mine safety regulators shows how a southern West Virginia miner received a fatal injury earlier this month.

Ashley Cogar, a 34-year-old truck driver, was struck by the bucket of a front-end loader on July 12 while walking to a truck.

Cogar later died of her injuries, according to a preliminary report from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Cogar had been working at the Wyco Surface Mine in Wyoming County for 17 days at the time she was injured, the report says.

Her death is the second of a coal miner on the job in West Virginia this year.

Accidents involving powered mining machinery are a leading cause of serious and fatal injuries among coal miners, according to MSHA.

In May, another miner was killed in Wyoming County when the excavator he was operating fell over a highwall.

1st W.Va. Miner Is Killed On The Job This Year In Wyoming County

Virgil Paynter, of Lynco, was fatally injured while operating an excavator at the CM Energy Operations surface mine, Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday.

A coal miner was killed on the job in Wyoming County Thursday morning.

Virgil Paynter, of Lynco, was fatally injured while operating an excavator at the CM Energy Operations surface mine, Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday.

Paynter is the first coal miner to die on the job in West Virginia this year. Only one other mine fatality this year was recorded by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, in Pennsylvania.

According to MSHA, the lowest number of fatalities on record in coal mines – five – occurred in 2020. A decline in coal production related to the COVID-19 pandemic was a likely factor.

Eleven coal miners were killed in 2021 and 2022 as production rebounded. Nine were killed in 2023.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. coal production year to date is down 19.3 percent from 2023.

Mine safety has improved, but the number of miners has also declined, according to MSHA data.

A century ago, miners died by the thousands every year. As recently as the 1960s, hundreds died every year. The last time more than 100 miners perished in any given year was 1984, when the industry employed more than 200,000. Employment has fallen under 100,000 every year since 2015.

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