Thursday, June 03, 2010
MSHA Cites Bledsoe Coal
KENTUCKY....
MSHA issued four citations this week saying Bledsoe Coal Co. was negligent before a fatal collapse in January killed 29 year old Travis Glenn Brock of Helton who was operating a continuous-miner in the Abner Branch Mine in Leslie County when the corner of a pillar collapsed, resulting in a nine-ton piece of rock crushing him. A MSHA report states Bledsoe and its parent company, James River Coal, failed to conduct adequate pre-shift and on-shift examinations and ignored the hazardous rib conditions. The company also failed to modify its roof-control plan to address changing geological conditions in the mine. Three citations were issued for "unwarrantable failure," the most serious type of citation. According to MSHA records, the Abner Branch Mine has been assessed more than $160,000 in fines for five similar citations in 2010 and is contesting some of those fines.
MSHA issued four citations this week saying Bledsoe Coal Co. was negligent before a fatal collapse in January killed 29 year old Travis Glenn Brock of Helton who was operating a continuous-miner in the Abner Branch Mine in Leslie County when the corner of a pillar collapsed, resulting in a nine-ton piece of rock crushing him. A MSHA report states Bledsoe and its parent company, James River Coal, failed to conduct adequate pre-shift and on-shift examinations and ignored the hazardous rib conditions. The company also failed to modify its roof-control plan to address changing geological conditions in the mine. Three citations were issued for "unwarrantable failure," the most serious type of citation. According to MSHA records, the Abner Branch Mine has been assessed more than $160,000 in fines for five similar citations in 2010 and is contesting some of those fines.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:57 PM 
