Vol. 71/No. 18      May 7, 2007

Dale Jones, 51, a back hoe operator, and Mike Wilt, 37, a bulldozer operator, were buried beneath 15-20 feet of rocks and dirt when the high wall collapsed April 17 at the Tri-Star Job No. 3 mine in this town, about 150 miles west of Baltimore. The rescue effort lasted three days before the bodies were found.

Jones and Wilt had been working alone in the mine at the base of the 100-125 foot high wall when it gave way. According to MSHA acting regional director Bob Cornett, heavy rains and freezing and thawing conditions may have contributed to the collapse. He did not say why Jones and Wilt were working under those conditions.

MSHA is beginning an investigation, and the mine will remain closed until its completion.

According to MSHA records, the mine employed 51 people, 35 of them miners, at the end of last year. It produced nearly 653,000 tons of coal in 2006. There had been no fatalities there since 1995. Tri-Star Mining owns at least two other surface mines in the state.

Last year, 47 coal miners died on the job in the United States, the highest number since 1995.
 
 
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