David Himmelberger died Monday of a gunshot wound, officials told local newspaper the Allentown Morning Call.

 

The Schuylkill County mine, of which Himmelberger was owner and president, was fined $US874,500 by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration this year after an October 23, 2006 blast killed 43-year-old worker Dale Reightler.

 

R&D's Buck Mountain Slope operation was the first company to receive fines under MSHA's new federal violations that outlined a definition and expanded fine for "flagrant violations", and stood to be fined as much as $1.33 million for the violations stemming from the accident.

 

A report released in March pointed to poor ventilation and blasting practices as the cause of the explosion.

 

Dawn Reightler, wife of the deceased, told the paper: "They are pushing these miners to the brink."

 

Meanwhile, Himmelberger's legal counsel was quoted as saying he was under distress over the case and potential fines that would bankrupt his company.

 

The federal report also said that the operator was liable for ensuring regulations were followed, including the immediate reporting of an accident as well as other "root causes".

 

These included the fact that the worker was not in a safe area before blasting occurred at the complex, but rather "in a straight line with the force of the blast when the shot was fired, causing fatal injuries," said MSHA.

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection idled the operation in January and suspended its permit for a lack of attention to safety as well as claims that the company misled the agency on information regarding a 2004 accident that hurt four; R&D reported the accident as the explosion of an air line when in fact it was a methane explosion, the DEP told the paper.

 

"Mine operators that show reckless disregard for the wellbeing of their workers must be held accountable for their actions," said MSHA assistant secretary of labor Richard Stickler in April when the announcement of the fine was made.

 

"MSHA will not hesitate to assess stiff penalties against coal companies that fail to comply with safety and health regulations."

 

Other citations that the agency considered contributory to the incident were:

 

• Failure to stem the boreholes prior to blasting as required: $145,300;
• Failure to follow the provisions of the MSHA-approved roof control plan: $145,300;
• Failure to ensure that volume and velocity of air current was sufficient to eliminate harmful gases: $116,350;
• Failure to maintain entry development with temporary ventilation controls to no more than 600 feet: $145,300; and
• Failure to conduct a proper pre-shift examination of the mine prior to the start of the work shift: $116,350.

MSHA defines a "flagrant violation" at an operation to include "a reckless or repeated failure to make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known violation of a mandatory safety and health standard that substantially and proximately caused, or reasonably could have been expected to cause, death or serious bodily injury."