TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) today announced that the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing (OMSL) has issued its final report on the fatal roof fall accident that occurred April 28, 2010 at the Dotiki mine operated by ARLP’s independent operating subsidiary Webster County Coal, LLC. The accident tragically claimed the lives of two Dotiki miners, Justin Travis and Michael Carter.
Following the accident, Webster County Coal, OMSL and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) cooperatively conducted independent investigations to determine both the causes of the fatal roof fall accident and means to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Webster County Coal submitted its investigative findings to OMSL and MSHA on June 4, 2010. After reviewing the OMSL report with Kentucky state officials earlier today, Webster County Coal confirmed that the findings of the OMSL report were consistent with its internal investigations concluding that the accident was the result of unpredictable and unforeseeable geologic conditions that were highly unusual at the Dotiki mine. Although the occurrence of the roof fall necessitated the issuance of a Notice of Non-Compliance, the OMSL report also confirmed that at the time of the accident the Dotiki mine was operating in full compliance with the roof control plan approved by OMSL and the MSHA. In addition, the report noted OMSL’s approval of the voluntary modifications to the Dotiki roof control plan implemented by Webster County Coal immediately following the accident.
Dotiki, the largest mine in Kentucky and one of the largest underground mines in the United States, employs more than 400 miners and has almost 600 miles of ventilated underground tunnel – longer than the distance from the Dotiki mine near Madisonville, Kentucky to Washington, D.C.
About Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.
ARLP is a diversified producer and marketer of coal to major United States utilities and industrial users. As the nation's only publicly traded master limited partnership involved in the production and marketing of coal, ARLP is currently the fifth largest coal producer in the eastern United States with mining operations in the Illinois Basin, Northern Appalachian and Central Appalachian coal producing regions. ARLP operates nine mining complexes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia and is also constructing a new mining complex in West Virginia. In addition, ARLP operates a coal loading terminal on the Ohio River at Mount Vernon, Indiana.
I'm glad they have finally finished their final report on this accident. Hopefully, the family has received all of their answer that they needed and they can finally move on.
ReplyDeleteThis was a tragic event. I respect all our coal miners across the nation. They lay their lives on the line every time they go down that mineshaft. That might sound dramatic, but there are certainly no guarantees. It certainly wouldn't be the life for me.
ReplyDeleteCoal mining is definately one of the most dangerous jobs in any industry. However, it is a big part of Kentucky heritage and important to the economy of our State.
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