In a US Securities and Exchange Commission report filed this week, Alpha subsidiary Dickenson-Russell Coal said the order was written August 4 when a foreman at its Roaring Fork No. 4 operation was witnessed traveling under unsupported roof.
No injuries occurred in the incident and the company said federal officials did not require miners to be withdrawn from the mine following the order.
“Dickenson-Russell has a safety policy which prohibits entry into areas of unsupported roof, and the company has received no prior citations or orders alleging that miners have entered such areas of the Roaring Fork No. 4 Mine,” the producer said.
“Dickenson-Russell does not believe that the use of a 107(a) order was the appropriate response to an individual employee’s unintentional entry into an area of unsupported roof and intends to challenge the order before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.”
MSHA terminated the order after cautioning the foreman not to enter areas of the mine with unsupported roof.
Alpha did not release any further public statement on the event.
Imminent danger orders are issued by MSHA under section 107(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, also known as the Mine Act.
Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act, amended last July, now requires disclosure of all imminent danger incidents as part of new reporting requirements regarding mine safety.
The 370-worker Dickenson Russell Coal complex has a total of five underground mines that have a combined annual production capacity of more than 1.9 million tons.
