Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Bad Year Month Week In the Mines

Roof Collapses at Ky. Mine, Killing One

PIKEVILLE, Ky., Jan. 11, 2006

(AP) Part of the roof collapsed Tuesday at a coal mine in eastern Kentucky, killing one miner, a state official said.

The rock fall occurred about 900 feet inside the Maverick Mining Co. LLC mine in Pikeville, near the Virginia line, said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing.

Wolfe said Tuesday night the miner who was killed was the only person harmed. The miner was identified as Cornelius Yates, 44.
According to MSHA records (Mine ID:1518674 ) The mine was cited 5 times in the last two years for failure to protect from falls of roof, face and ribs. The penalty for the last citation on November 29, 2005 had not yet been assessed. Three of the others, also in 2005, were assessed at $72 each and the fifth citation, in December 2004, was $60. Only the $60 fine has been paid.