Belt man/fire boss David Neal was working to replace bottom rollers on an overland conveyor belt at the Spartan Mining underground operation in Kanawha County last December while workers from a contractor company, Millennium Vulcanizing, were performing work on the same belt.

According to the West Virginia Record, lawsuit documentation filed by Rhonda Brogen in late August outlined that the circuit breaker to lock the belt during maintenance processes was not in working order, and the belt could therefore not be idled while both Neal and Millennium crews were working.

Neal was lying on the belt to replace the roller, an area about 8–12 inches in height, and apparently did not hear the 10-second start-up alarm in his location. Despite screaming for the belt to be stopped, the paper said, he was pulled about 50 feet and made impact with several cross-support beams before falling approximately 40ft into a frozen coal pile.

David Shelton, a trainee at Spartan, pulled a total of three cords to bring the belt to a stop after seeing Neal’s cap lamp travel in front of him. After sustaining serious injuries and undergoing several surgeries, he did not regain consciousness and passed away from his injuries 10 days later.

Brogan’s suit includes three counts against the operator and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, according to the Record.

In March of this year, the state’s Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training cited the producer, Massey Energy, for violations related to fall protection that was not in use and insufficient alarms and stop switches.

The agency noted at the time it found shut-off switches at the scene to be broken upon inspection and also could not determine how or why the line started.

“Tests on the belt’s electrical control circuit were conducted by the accident investigation team," the agency said.

“There were no defects found that would explain why the belt unexpectedly started.”

The WVOMHST issued four notices of violation as a result of its investigation for items the office felt contributed to Neal's death and fined the operator $US4456 for the infringements.

Among the citations were $1700 for failing to lock the belt and turn off electricity to the area and $1250 for the worker's lack of harness and broken start-up alarm. Massey was also fined $256 for its non-working power supply switch.

The 85-worker bituminous underground operation in Mammoth produced just over 918,000 tons in 2006 with no serious injuries, three non-fatal days lost (NFDL) operator injuries, and zero contractor NFDL or fatalities reported, according to Mine Safety and Health Administration records.