Vol. 72/No. 24      June 16, 2008

The Sentinel Mine is owned by International Coal Group (ICG), which also owns the nearby Sago Mine, where unsafe conditions led to an explosion in 2006 that took 12 miners’ lives.

Lanham had only five months’ experience when he was run over by a scoop, a vehicle used to haul coal and equipment, the Charleston Gazette reported.

The mine’s operator, Wolf Run Mining Company, was cited the previous week by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for failing to report an accident promptly, the accumulation of combustible coal dust, not preserving the scene of an accident, and other violations. Accident rates at Sentinel have far exceeded the national average for eight of the past 10 years, according to MSHA. In a similar manner, the Sago Mine had been cited with 208 safety violations by MSHA the year prior to the deadly explosion there.

Shortly after the Sago disaster, ICG founder Wilbur Ross smugly told Fortune magazine that the company still planned to more than double production at the mine in the coming year. Last year the Sentinel Mine produced 773,000 tons of coal, its biggest year since 1999.
 
 
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No construction worker has to die!  
 
 
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