Large portion of 4 West Mine closed after fatality
A company near Mount Morris was ordered to stop mining in about 25 percent of its mine area after a miner was killed and a plan to prevent future accidents was considered unacceptable to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Jeremy Neice, 31, of Danville, West Virginia, died after a large rock fell from the mine wall Jan. 16.
This was the second fatal accident at Dana Mining Co.’s 4 West Mine in about six months.
The DEP and Mine Safety and Health Administration conducted a joint investigation. The DEP cited the mine for ventilation problems and directed them to keep the area where Neice was killed intact during the investigation, according to spokesman John Poister.
He said the company was required to submit a plan that would prevent similar accidents from happening in the future.
“The report they gave us was unacceptable and so today we ordered them to stop mining in any place where there was a predicted or encountered problem in the mine having to do with the weakness in the walls,” Poister said.
He said 4 West Mine was built over an abandoned mine, which created stress areas in some parts of the existing mine.
The walls, called “ribs” in the mining industry, are not strong enough to prevent collapse in these areas, Poister said.