The WV Office of Miner’s Health, Safety and Training plans to contact federal investigators about the accident at Alpha Natural Resources’ Liberty plant because there are conflicting accounts in federal and state reports on the accident.
WV mine safety director Eugene White told the Charleston Gazette that his office might seek to re-interview witnesses about the May 17, 2012 death of mechanic Clyde Dolin.
Dolin fell from his ladder while preparing to use a torch to remove a steel beam above the third floor at the plant.
The US Mine Safety and Health Administration issued an investigation report in December 2012 which stated Dolin was using a ladder without its base and that Alpha foreman James Maynard helped to steady the ladder while Dolin climbed it.
The MSHA cited Alpha subsidiary Independence Coal for improper use of the ladder, failing to provide safe access to the beam and failing to require Dolin to wear a safety belt and line.
“[Foreman] Maynard … was present at the work area immediately prior to the accident and helped a witness stabilize a ladder while the victim climbed it to perform the work necessary to remove a 12in I-beam,” MSHA said in its December report.
“[He] observed the victim climbing the ladder without fall protection and was aware that the work was to be accomplished from an elevated location above the third floor of the plant and was also located adjacent to an open hoist well that was 39 feet above the basement floor.
“Maynard engaged in aggravated conduct constituting more than ordinary negligence.”
White last week told the WV Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety that the foreman was not mentioned in the state’s August 2012 report on the incident.
“We knew that he was around the area but the information that our investigation team collected did not indicate he held the ladder,” he said.
“He might have walked by. We would have addressed that issue if we were aware of it.
“When MSHA issued this [report], that was the first time we became aware of this.”
Alpha has not said whether it plans to appeal the federal citations and MSHA has not yet assessed any fines.
