Miner electrocuted in Logan County Massey mine
May 20th, 2008 by Erica
The state’s second coal mining death of 2008 happened this Saturday when Nathan Dove, 24, was killed in Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County. Dove was electrocuted, and preliminary investigations suggest that he cut a live cable.
This is the same mine in which two miners died in early 2006, immediately following the tragedy at Sago.
In the Pump Handle, a blog about public health, Celeste Monforton addressed the issue yesterday, noting that Aracoma Alma No. 1, a Massey mine, received a safety award about a month ago. Yet, just a year ago MSHA fined the mine $1.5 million. Hmm…
From the Pump Handle:
In my post, “Safety Awards Gone Bad”, I reminded readers that just one year ago, MSHA issued a record-setting $1.5 million penalty against Massey for its ”reckless disregard for safety” in the disaster which killed Bragg and Hatfield. Between January 1, 2006 and April 1, 2008, this mine has been cited for nearly 1,200 violations of MSHA health and safety standards, with 665 of them designated “serious and substantial.” Moreover, this Massey operation has been assessed more than $2,226,000 in monetary penalties, and they’ve only paid $35,651. The vast majority of the violations are being contested, including the dozens of penalties associated with the Aracoma Alma disaster which are classified as “reckless disregard” for miners’ safety.
Category: mining | No Comments »
