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Perry Co. Mining Accident Considered “Minor”
< < Back toUS Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration officials say there will not be a formal investigation into the coal mining accident that sent five workers to the hospital last week.
A spokeswoman for the department tells WOUB News the accident was considered minor.
All five of the miners hurt in the accident have been released from the hospital.
The accident happened Sept. 19 at the Buckingham Coal Company's number 7 mine in Perry County.
According to federal records, this underground mine has 81 citations for the year and more than $10,000 in proposed penalties.
But John Ziants, a mine safety supervisor with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, says workers have nothing to worry about.
"I wouldn't be afraid to work there, and I wouldn't be afraid to advise any body else who wanted to get a job there to work there. As I said, I think our underground operations are as safe as any in the country," said Ziants.
A preliminary report pinned the accident on dispatcher error, saying that a dispatcher allowed a larger track vehicle into the mine before confirming a smaller track vehicle was out of the way.