Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RIPPLEMEAD LENGTH: Medium
A report issued last month concluded that the accident was caused by "the failure to ensure that scaling was conducted from a safe location that would protect miners from overhead hazards and the failure to provide equipment necessary to safely scale the mine roof."
Barry B. Snider, 37, of Blacksburg died after tons of rock fell on him while underground at the Eastern Ridge Lime Co. off Virginia 684 near Pearisburg. Jeffery Morgan, 32, of West Virginia, was hospitalized for two days with a fractured pelvis.
The rock fall happened while Morgan was attempting to dislodge loose rock from the mine roof using a jumbo drill. Snider was nearby, supervising.
"It was the practice for miners to use the jumbo drill for the purpose of scaling in lieu of the mechanical scaler provided at the mine,'' the report states. The two miners were using the jumbo drill "for a purpose other than what it was designed by the manufacturer to accomplish," the report concludes. More than 2,000 tons of rock fell, sometimes as deep as 25 feet. The rock fall partially covered the drill from which Morgan was rescued. Snider's body, covered with 8 feet of rock, was found three days later.
The report says that a failure to support the ground by following the company's general mining and roof control plan was a contributing factor to the accident. The tunnel was more than twice the 35-feet width called for in the company's plan, and an appropriate pillar size was not maintained between mining areas where the strength of the rock strata was diminished by karst conditions, according to the report.
The plant, formerly called Virginia Lime Co., is an affiliate of Mississippi Lime Co. and is owned by the North American Lime Co. The company employs more than 100 people and has been in operation since 1945.
Before the July fatality, the mine had claimed one other life - during a 1969 rock fall.
Kathy Snyder, a MSHA spokeswoman, said fines had not yet been imposed.
The state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy has not completed its investigation of the rock fall, said spokesman Mike Abbott, but expects to complete it soon.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB