Kentucky coal company hit with $500,000+ in fines for 2011 fatality
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration has proposed $594,100 in fines to Manalapan Mining Co. Inc.'s P-1 Mine in Harlan County, Ky., for four violations. The proposed penalties were assessed as a result of an investigation into the June 2011 death of a miner who was fatally injured when a large section of rock fell from the underground coal mine's wall, or rib, and knocked him into a dolly.
Although there were no witnesses to the accident, federal accident investigators believe that the continuous haulage system backed up during the mining process, causing the dolly to move along the conveyer belt structure and drag the victim, David A. Partin, from beneath the fallen material.