A wall in a Wise County underground coal mine collapsed early Thursday, killing one worker in the state’s first coal mining fatality this year.
A third-shift crew was scooping out coal deep inside the Big Laurel Mining Corp. No. 2 mine to install a feeder belt that would deliver coal to the surface. They placed timber supports between the floor and the ceiling as they burrowed their way into the coal and rock, just more than 2 miles from the mouth of the mine, according to a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.
Among the crew was repairman William Wayne Parrott, 58, of Big Stone Gap, Va. About 6:30 a.m., portions of the wall and roof caved and fell onto Parrott, a 33-year veteran of mines. Miners had to remove the material to free Parrott, who was transported by ambulance to the Lonesome Pine Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the spokesman said.
No one else was injured in the collapse.
A spokesman for Cumberland Resources Corp., the parent company of mine operator Big Laurel Mining Corp., expressed condolences, but would not release details as state and federal teams investigate the accident.
“We’re devastated by the accident and our thoughts and prayers are with [Parrott’s] family,” said Harry Childress, government affairs agent for Cumberland Resources. “We may make a statement a little bit later.”
The Big Laurel No. 2 mine in July received three citations for falling short of federal safety standards for supporting mine roofs, faces and ribs, according to records of the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Inspectors found unsupported areas, including a section of roof, a rock brow and a rib in July. It was not clear whether these areas were near the location of Thursday’s fatal accident.
Insufficient support for roofs and walls ranks as one of the most common violations in underground coal mines across the country, MSHA data shows. There were 3,392 such violations in underground coal mines in 2008, and 2,616 in 2007 – making it the fourth most common citation in each year.
The last fatal coal mining accident in Virginia was in July 2008, when a roof collapsed and killed a worker in Consolidation Coal Co.’s No. 1 mine in Buchanan County.
dgilbert@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2558
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