Two mine fatalities concern for DEP
A preliminary investigation into Saturday’s fatal accident at the Dana Mining Co.’s 4 West Mine near Mt. Morris revealed the worker died when he was crushed by a large rock that fell from the side of an underground mine passageway, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said Tuesday.
Jeremy R. Neice, 31, of Danville, W.Va., was pronounced dead at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., from injuries suffered in the accident which occurred about 6 p.m.
A team from DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety was at the mine again Tuesday continuing its investigation of the accident, DEP spokesman John Poister said.
“We want to figure out how and why this happened,” he said.
It is likely the agency will require the company very shortly to complete additional measures to ensure employee safety, Poister said.
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, which also is investigating the fatality, said Monday the accident was caused by a material fall, though it was not specific on what had fallen.
This was the second mine fatality at 4 West in less than seven months, which creates a “tremendous amount of concern for us,” Poister said. Though the cause of the earlier fatality was not related to Saturday’s accident, Poister said “we want mining to proceed as safely as can be.”
The last fatality on June 27 took the life of John William Kelly, 55, of Albright, W.Va. Kelly, a scoop car operator with 21 years of mining experience, was fatally injured when a heavy, metal airlock door and its frame, used to control mine ventilation, fell on him.