Kentucky miner among 20 killed since 2000 while engaged in dangerous process of retreat mining
By APFriday, June 18, 2010
Ky miner latest killed in dangerous retreat mining
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A coal miner killed in Kentucky this week was engaged in the dangerous practice of retreat mining, which involves deliberately cutting away pillars of coal intended to support overhead rock layers.
Statistics compiled by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Adminstration and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health show more than 50 miners have been killed in retreat mining operations over the past quarter century. Of those, 20 miners have died since 2000.
The dead include section foreman Jimmy Carmack, who died Wednesday when a 15-foot-high column of coal toppled into a 100-ton jack used for roof support. The jack struck Carmack at the Lone Mountain Processing’s Clover Fork No. 1 mine at Holmes Mill. Carmack was 42.
