MSHA has recently warned two West Virginian mines that they run the risk of being labeled pattern offenders for failing to report various accidents that have occurred on their sites.

From Forbes:

The Mine Safety and Health Administration cited Inman Energy’s Randolph Mine and Independence Coal Co.’s Justice No. 1 Mine. Both Boone County operations were owned by Massey Energy ( MEE – news – people ) and now belong to Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources Inc.

MSHA says neither got a potential pattern violator notice during a screening round in November, but both were since audited.

An administrative law judge ordered Alpha to supply records for five mines, including Randolph and Justice. The audit showed those two mines had failed to report or inaccurately reported 24 injuries.

MSHA also said that since June 23, it has been fining St. Louis-based Peabody Energy ( BTU – news – people ) $4,000 for failing to provide information needed to audit its Air Quality No. 1 Mine in Knox County, Ind. Those fines will continue to accrue until the data is presented, the agency said.

In all, 39 mines were subjected to MSHA auditing. Maple Coal Co., which underreported injuries at its Maple Eagle No. 1 Mine, was subsequently moved to potential pattern violator status. Maple Coal is owned by Western Coal of British Columbia.

Tags: mines, MSHA, safety, West Virginia

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 30th, 2011 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Health and Safety, MSHA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.