Record $507,000 in Fines Imposed in Mine Blast

WASHINGTON —  Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole announced Thursday that the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has levied more than $500,000 in fines against Pyro Mining Co. for violations uncovered in the investigation of a coal mine explosion that killed 10 people last year.

“The fine we are levying today is the largest penalty in history to result from a single mine accident,” Dole said. “It signifies the gravity of the violations and the commitment of the department to see that our nation’s miners work under safe conditions.”

The agency has assessed Pyro Mining Co. a total of $507,996 in civil penalties for 121 violations found during the investigation of the Sept. 13, 1989, methane explosion at Pyro’s William Station Mine in Union County, Ky.

William Tattersall, assistant secretary for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, said: “We consider the violations in this case so flagrant and indicative of the company’s negligence that this fine is warranted.”

The department said Pyro was fined $10,000 for each of 10 violations, the maximum civil penalty for a violation. Fines of $8,000 each were imposed for 26 more violations, including 19 violations involving failure to make required preshift safety examinations and seven electrical violations. An additional 13 violations, mainly involving electrical safety, resulted in fines of $6,500 each. Lesser penalties were imposed for the other violations.

The Labor Department said the investigators’ report determined that the William Station Mine explosion occurred after several violations of mine ventilation requirements allowed explosive methane gas to accumulate undetected. Investigators identified a machine with multiple electrical safety deficiencies as one of five possible ignition sources.

James Greenlee, executive vice president of Costain Coal Inc., which owns Pyro Mining Co., said: “We’re just not making any comment at all beyond the fact that we’re surprised by the size of the penalty. The appeal is in process, and we will continue that.”