Feds cite Kentucky mine owners in fatal collapse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The owner of a western Kentucky mine was cited Friday after federal investigators concluded an inadequately supported roof led to a collapse that killed two people in April.

Alliance Resource Partners properly followed the roof control plan at the Dotiki mine, but a non-detectable formation of slippery rock called slickenslides or slips caused the roof to cave in an unsupported area being mined, the Mine Safety and Health Administration concluded in a report.

The report says the collapse couldn't be foreseen at the massive coal-mining complex in Kentucky. MSHA cited the mine for failing to adequately support the roof, causing a section up to 76 feet long, 19 feet wide and up to 10 feet thick to collapse on April 28.

The initial citation requires Tulsa, Okla.-based Allied Resource Partners, which owns the mine's operator, Webster County Coal, to correct the problems that led to the fall. Investigators said the company couldn't have known that the slides would cause a collapse, but added that the roof wasn't "adequately supported or otherwise controlled" to prevent falls from the roof.

MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere told The Associated Press a citation was written for the condition that resulted in the accident, but there was no negligence assigned because the condition was not visible. Louviere said the law used to cite Alliance Resource Partners does not require knowledge on the part of the mine operator.

Louviere said the company will be fined later but must first be allowed to contest the citation.

Kenny Murray, the vice president of Tulsa, Okla.,-based Allied Resource Partners, said in a statement that because the collapse wasn't foreseeable, the citation is unjustified.

"At no time during its investigation did MSHA indicate that this accident was preventable or that Webster County Coal was in any way negligent," said Murray, a former MSHA senior executive in eastern Kentucky. "In light of these facts, we strongly believe the citation issued today by MSHA is not justified."

The roof collapse at the Dotiki mine on the Wester-Hopkins County line near Madisonville killed Justin Travis, 27, and Michael Carter, 28. Travis, who had more than three years of mining experience, was clearing loose rock with the assistance of Carter, who had two years of experience.