David Chad Bolen, 28, died after being crushed by debris while he was moving a shuttle car anchor at Tri Star Coal’s No. 1 operation in April, the state’s Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet told Associated Press. Bolen had only worked at the mine for two months and had three years experience as a shuttle car operator.
Tri Star, located in the eastern portion of the state in Pike County, was given 11 orders for noncompliance and closure this week, three of which mine inspectors have said played a role in Bolen’s death. The three violations refer to a pre-shift inspection failure on the part of the foreman as well as two charges relating to the operation’s roof control plan, the news service said.
The No. 1 mine, which has been idled for the course of the state’s investigation of the incident, was also cited six additional times for roof control plan violations and once more for an insufficient pre-shift inspection.
Also in Kentucky just one day later, Rick McKnight, 45, was crushed while working on a conveyor belt loader, according to a previous AP story. He was an 11-year veteran of the Lone Mountain Processing Huff Creek No. 1 mine at Holmes Mill, about 30 miles east of Harlan.
The number of US coal mining fatalities in 2006 now stands at 26.
