EKB News

Federal regulators have placed 13 mines around the nation, including four underground coal mines in Kentucky, on notice that they must improve safety or face possible increased shutdowns. MSHA officials announced Friday it issued 286 citations and orders during October impact inspections at 13 coal mines in seven states. The inspections involved mines with poor compliance histories or other problems that worry regulators. MSHA chief Joe Main says this has been a wake-up call for even the most resistant mine operators. The most problematic of the nation’s 14,500 mines in the past year has been Left Fork Mining Co.'s Straight Creek No. 1 Mine in Bell County, Kentucky. MSHA has ordered it to close 92 times between November1, 2009, and October 31, 2010. In May, a federal judge ordered Left Fork’s parent, Manalapan Mining Co., to stop warning underground miners that inspectors had arrived on site. Main said his inspectors successfully seized phone lines at the eastern Kentucky mine on October 29th. That inspection resulted in 15 citations for violations and five orders relating to such issues as the accumulation of explosive materials, equipment maintenance and venting.