Less than a year after nine men perished in two separate wall collapses at Crandall Canyon Mine outside Huntington, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has fined the mine owner for "flagrant" fire and and explosion safety violations at its Aberdeen Mine in Price.

Murray Energy subsidiary Andalex Resources Inc. has been fined $420,300 for the violations. The mine was cited for "excessive accumulations of hydraulic oil and fine coal particles (that) covered the hoses, electrical conduit and tram motors on electric equipment," according to an MSHA press release. The mine owner, Robert Murray, also "allowed excessive accumulations of potentially explosive float coal dust and other combustible material to accumulate on a dangerously maintained conveyor belt." Such accumulations create conditions that "provide substantial fuel to propagate a mine fire," MSHA stated.

These violations would be disturbing in any mine. But they are particularly troubling considering the events at the Crandall Canyon Mine that claimed nine lives last August, less than two months after the second of two significant citations was levied against operations at Aberdeen Mine.

Although much has been made of Murray's bombastic personal style, being loud and abrasive isn't against the law. It is far more distressing that the violations at the Aberdeen mine were "flagrant" in nature. MSHA describes a flagrant violation as "a reckless or repeated failure to make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known violation of a mandatory safety and health standard..." that could cause death or serious bodily injury.

The deaths of nine men at Crandall Canyon Mine are still fresh in the state's memories. That grief cannot even compare to the personal anguish of wives who lost husbands, children who lost their fathers and parents who lost their sons.

All who work in coal mines, as well as their loved ones, acknowledge the inherent risks of mining coal. At a minimum, coal mine owners need to address safety issues before they fester to the point of becoming "flagrant violations," to use MSHA's parlance.