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Rig Worker Dies In Accident At W.Va. Prep Plant

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UPDATE: 5:42 PM  Federal regulators say the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has jurisdiction over a fatal accident involving a gas-drilling rig at a coal mine prep plant.

Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesman Jesse Lawder says an unidentified worker died Monday night when the rig overturned and crushed him at CONSOL Energy's Loveridge Mine preparation plant in Fairview.

Lawder says the rig was doing exploratory work on Marcellus shale gas deposits, drilling 30-foot holes and setting off explosives for seismic testing.

The state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training says it's turned the case over to OSHA because the accident didn't occur on bonded mine property.

Pennsylvania-based CONSOL, meanwhile, said it's cooperating in the investigation.


Federal regulators say they're working with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to decide who has jurisdiction over a fatal accident involving a gas-drilling rig at a coal mine prep plant.

Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesman Jesse Lawder says an unidentified worker died Monday night when the rig overturned and crushed him at CONSOL Energy's Loveridge Mine preparation plant in Fairview.

Lawder says the rig was doing exploratory work on Marcellus shale gas deposits, drilling 30-foot holes and setting off explosives for seismic testing.

The state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training says it's turned the case over to OSHA because the accident didn't occur on bonded mine property.

Pennsylvania-based CONSOL didn't immediately comment. The victim worked for one of its outside contractors. That company wasn't immediately identified.