State shuts down 'unsafe' Schuylkill County coal mine
DEP says probe into October death revealed a number of
violations.

By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call

Pennsylvania on Friday shut down a Schuylkill County
coal mine where an explosion killed a worker last
fall, saying the company had showed ''a disregard for
the safety and well-being of the miners and their
families.''

Regulators acted after learning R&D Coal Co. misled
them on details of an earlier blast at its Tremont
Township shaft, according to the state Department of
Environmental Protection.

New information from former mine workers revealed
methane gas, not an air line as the company reported,
caused a 2004 explosion that injured four miners at
R&D Coal's Buck Mountain Slope Mine, DEP spokesman Tom
Rathbun said. Methane gas also caused the Oct. 23,
2006, blast that killed miner Dale Reightler.

''Based on information we had been given at the time,
we were led to believe [the 2004 accident] was an
explosion of an air line,'' Rathbun said. ''Now we're
saying it was methane.'' But DEP would not be more
specific.

The similarity led DEP to revoke R&D Coal's mining
permit, he said. The mine has been sealed, and the
company must fill it.

Mine owner David Himmelberger said Friday he ''had no
idea'' what he will do and referred questions to his
attorney, Adele Abrams of Beltsville, Md. Abrams did
not immediately return a call seeking comment.

After the former miners came forward, regulators found
the 2004 accident ''was very similar to the 2006

explosion and that circumstances of the [first]
accident had been misrepresented by mine management,' '
said Jay Scott Roberts, DEP's deputy secretary for
mineral resources management.

In the Dec. 1, 2004, blast, flying debris and coal
injured four miners, two seriously. The state closed
the mine six days later but let it reopen Dec. 20,
2004, while authorities investigated.

DEP and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration
concluded ''a pressurized 2-inch aluminum air and
water pipe had exploded because the hydraulic valve
pressure gauge was inaccurate,' ' a DEP spokesman said.
The operators had to install safety connectors on air
lines in the work areas and move the lines away from
electrical and water conduits.

The Oct. 23, 2006, explosion killed Reightler, 43, of
Frailey Township, a miner since his teens. It was the
only fatality in a Pennsylvania underground mine in
2006. Reightler's widow, Dorothy, could not be reached
for comment Friday.

DEP said its investigation of the October blast showed
the company let uncertified miners blast rock or coal
and that the mine foreman failed to conduct a proper
pre-shift examination of the mine. Also in December,
DEP filed 23 citations against R&D. The U.S.
Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health
Administration filed 10 citations.

According to officials at both agencies, R&D was
working to correct the violations, and in late
December filed plans with DEP for continued mining.

''As long as the investigation was continuing,
everyone operated under the assumption that certain
things needed to be corrected before we considered
allowing them to reopen,'' Rathbun said. ''But the
investigation revealed that the mine can't be operated
safely.''

R&D must immediately place barriers over openings and
backfill them so no one can get in, then regrade the
surface and revegetate it and raze any buildings,
Rathbun said. Someone else could apply for a permit to
mine that site, he added.

''This action closes that specific mine,'' Rathbun
said. ''They still have a mining license. But that has
to be renewed every five years. It might be up for
renewal this year.''

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Here's the latest



PA DEP Revokes Certificates, Explosives Purchasing Permit for R&D
Coal Mine Officials


Actions Taken Following Investigation into Explosions at Mine

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department
of
Environmental Protection has taken further action against R&D Coal
Company

and three mine officials employed by the company following an
investigation
into methane explosions in 2004 and 2006 at the Buck Mountain Slope
Mine in
Tremont Township, Schuylkill County.
The 2004 explosion injured four miners - two seriously - and the
2006

explosion resulted in the death of miner Dale Reightler, 43, of
Donaldson,
Frailey Township.
Final reports on the investigations into both explosions were
issued by
the department on Jan. 26, 2007, and charged mine officials with
covering

up the cause and nature of the 2004 explosion, as well as violating a
number of provisions of Pennsylvania's Anthracite Coal Mine Act in both
incidents.
"Mining is dangerous, but mines do not need to be unsafe," Deputy

Secretary for Mineral Resources Management J. Scott Roberts said. "The
majority of Pennsylvania's underground mines operate under established
safety guidelines, and the commitment to safety begins with the people
who

are responsible for the operation of the mine. In this case, the
operator
and officials at the Buck Mountain Slope Mine have proven to be unable
to
operate this mine in compliance with Pennsylvania's mine safety laws."

The department has filed a complaint with the state Environmental
Hearing Board to permanently revoke the "mine officials" certifications
of
the three mine officials who were on duty at the time of the accident.

Those individuals are:
* David P. Zimmerman - assistant mine foreman - also operator &
partner in
R&D Coal Company which holds the mining permit for the Buck
Mountain
Slope Mine;
* David S. Himmelberger - mine foreman - also mine superintendent

responsible for hiring miners, mine officials and laborers, and
general
supervision of the mine; and
* Steven D. Zimmerman - mine foreman
The revocations mean the three are no longer able to serve in an

official capacity at any mine in Pennsylvania but will retain their
state
miner certification and can continue to work as miners.
The department complaint states the three men violated several
provisions of the Anthracite Coal Mine Act including:

* Employing miners who did not possess state miner certification;
* Allowing uncertified miners to conduct blasting operations;
* Failing to conduct proper pre-shift examinations of the mine;
* Failing to conduct pre-blast methane monitoring;

* Allowing mining far in advance of the last open cross-cut or air
current; and
* Using improper blasting procedures that allowed methane to be
ignited.
The department also filed an administrative order revoking R&D
Coal

Company's permit to purchase explosives, citing the same violations.
Under state law, all miners must have two years of practical
underground mining experience and must pass a written test to become
certified. Mine officials - foremen, assistant foremen and examiners -
must

have five years of experience and must pass a written test.
The Bureau of Mine Safety closed the Buck Mountain Slope Mine
following
the Oct. 23, 2006, fatal explosion so state and federal officials could

conduct a thorough investigation of the incident. During the course of
the
investigation, information was uncovered that led investigators to
conclude
that the 2004 accident was similar to the 2006 explosion, and that

circumstances of the 2004 accident had been misrepresented by mine
management.
DEP temporarily suspended the mine officials' certifications on
Dec. 5,
2006, and, on Jan. 26, 2007, released the final reports on both
accidents,

revoked the mining permit for the Buck Mountain Slope Mine, and ordered
the
company to seal the mine and begin reclamation of the site.
Underground mine inspectors from the Bureau of Mine Safety
recently

began conducting enhanced inspections of all underground Anthracite
mines
to help operators and mine officials identify and correct safety
problems
uncovered during the investigation into the explosions inside the Buck

Mountain Slope Mine, with particular focus on explosives use and
storage,
ventilation and pre-shift examinations.
For more information on underground mine safety, visit the
department's
Web site at <http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/>

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