Pike man killed on surface mine

NEWS EDITOR

A Pike County coal miner was killed Thursday when the road grader he was operating ran over him, officials said.

John May, 39, of Hardy, was pronounced dead about 8:50 p.m. at the Central Appalachian Mining Slate Branch surface mine at Freeburn, said Chuck Wolfe, spokesman for the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing.

The accident was reported to OMSL at 8:30, an hour after the accident occurred, Wolfe said. A new law that went into effect last week requires mining companies to report an accident or life-threatening situation to mine safety officials within 15 minutes of the incident.

“Whether this accident was properly reported will be a point of the investigation,” Wolfe said.

May was alongside his grader when it rolled backwards, down a steeply inclined road, and struck him. Early indications show that the victim may have been trying to re-mount the grader when it started rolling, said Amy Louviere, spokesperson for MSHA. May was caught near the blade and dragged some distance, she said. The grader did not overturn and came to rest in a ditch with the engine running and transmission in neutral.

Officials from both MSHA and OMSL were on site yesterday and met with mine officials in the early afternoon.

“We are trying to determine the cause of the accident and once we determine that will be able to prevent it from happening in the future,” said Bill May, Human Resource Director at CAM Mining.

John May had 20 years of mining experience and returned to the company three months ago. Bill May, not closely related to the victim, described him as “an excellent employee.”

The Slate Branch mine has been closed until the investigation is complete, Wolfe said.

The site has been inspected four times by the state since it opened in August 2005. It was cited in January for inoperable headlights on a truck and then in February for inoperable headlights on a dozier.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has cited the mine 16 times this year. Most recently in April the mine was cited for unsafe machinery equipment, an accumulation of combustible materials and unclear travelways.

This is the second surface mining accident this week.

Knott County miner, 28-year-old Jason Mosley, was killed Tuesday when the highwall of a surface mine collapsed on him as he operated a drill.

This is the 13 mining fatality in Kentucky this year, the highest number of mine fatalities since 1993, when the toll was 18, and the third for Pike County.

In April, shuttle car operator David Chad Bolen, 28, of Harold, was killed while moving a shuttle car anchor at the Tri Star Coal No. 1 Mine in Freeburn. Bolen had been employed for two months with the company, which was doing contract work for CAM. Roof bolter Cornelius Yates, 44, of Shelbiana, was killed in January during a roof fall at the Maverick Mine, just off Town Mountain Road.

News Editor Andrea Bennett can be reached via e-mail at abennett@news-expressky.com