Office of Miners' Safety Health and Training Story Archives

Miner Killed; State Investigating

Authorities say a 32-year-old miner has been killed at a mine in southern West Virginia.

The Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says the incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Rockwell Mining LLC Gateway Eagle Mine.

Authorities identified the miner as Rodney S. Osborne of Artie, West Virginia.

He was operating a continuous miner, a machine with a rotating steel drum and conveyor system, to extract coal.

The state office says its inspectors are investigating. The mine in Boone County was idle Wednesday.

The underground mining complex produces metallurgical coal and is owned by Blackhawk Mining based in Lexington, Kentucky. The company says it’s cooperating fully with state and federal investigators.

Driver Dies Delivering Coal in Logan County

West Virginia mine safety authorities say a 54-year-old coal truck driver has died from injuries he suffered last week in Logan County.

The Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says the loaded truck driven by Franklin Vannoy Jr. of Delbarton unexpectedly overturned while he was delivering coal to the Greenbrier Minerals Elk Lick Loadout dump site about 7:25 a.m. on Feb. 3.

He was a driver for Stacy Equipment & Repairs Inc.

The office says its inspectors are investigating.

Regulators Cite 2 W.Va. Companies in Fatal Mine Accidents

Two companies have been cited by West Virginia regulators in separate fatal mine accidents.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training issued two citations to Rogers Petroleum Services Inc. and eight citations to Murray Energy.

A Rogers Petroleum employee, 52-year-old Von Bower, was killed earlier this year when his truck overturned at a surface mine in Raleigh County.

Forty-five-year-old John M. “Mike” Garloch of Neffs, Ohio, was killed and three other workers were injured earlier this year in a roof and rib fall at Murray Energy’s Marshall County mine near Cameron.

State inspectors briefed the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety on reports on their investigations of the accidents on Wednesday.

The companies told the newspaper that they are reviewing the reports.

Coal Miner Killed Monday in Monongalia Co. Mining Accident

State regulators say a coal miner is dead following an accident at a Monongalia County mine.

The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training said Tuesday that 49-year-old Raymond Scott Savage of Maidsville was killed Monday night at Redbone Mining Company’s Crawdad No. 1 Mine.

The office says in a news release that Savage was struck by a piece of rock while operating a roof bolting machine. He was a section foreman.

Inspectors are investigating the accident.

State figures show the accident is the fifth mining fatality this year. The most recent, in May, was an accident called a coal burst at a Patriot Coal mine in Boone County. Two miners were killed in that accident.

A man answering calls at the Redbone facility declined comment.

Eight Injured in Accident at Greenbrier Co. Mine

State and federal mine safety officials are investigating an accident that injured eight workers at a Greenbrier County mine.

The state Office of Miners’ Safety, Health and Training tells media outlets that a mantrip lost its brakes on an incline at the Greenbrier Minerals Mountaineer Pocahontas No. 1 near Rupert. A mantrip is a vehicle that transports miners underground.

The accident occurred around midnight Tuesday.

Three workers were treated at an area hospital and released. Two workers remain hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. Three others declined medical treatment.

Greenbrier Minerals vice president Garry Groves says the mine employs about 125 workers. The company also is investigating the accident.