ABINGDON, Va., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- An experienced roof bolt operator suffered fatal injuries this morning at the Kingston Mining Inc. #1 coal mine in Fayette County, W. Va.
According to preliminary reports, William Dooley, 56, a resident of Oak Hill, W. Va., had finished bolting a section of the mine roof at approximately 10:30 a.m. when a piece of rock fell without warning, striking Mr. Dooley. He was evacuated from the mine and transported by ambulance to Raleigh General Hospital where he was declared dead.
The section of #1 mine where the accident occurred has been placed under a closure order and state and federal mine investigators have been dispatched to the mine.
Kingston Mining, an affiliate of Alpha Natural Resources, said that Mr. Dooley had operated roof bolting equipment for Kingston since August 2001. He recently completed a regularly scheduled annual retraining session on October 3.
Alpha acquired Kingston Mining as part of its merger with Foundation Coal in July 2009. Company employees had experienced just two lost-time accidents over the last three years and the mine had not experienced a fatality in its 15-year history.
Phillip Saunders, president of Kingston Resources Inc., said, "On behalf of our family at Kingston, I want to express our sincere condolences and sympathy to Bill's family. We will miss our friend and fellow miner. I've given full authority to our human resources professionals to do whatever is necessary to assist Bill's family in this time of need."
About Alpha Natural Resources
Alpha Natural Resources is one of America's premier coal suppliers with coal production capacity of more than 90 million tons a year. Alpha is the nation's leading supplier and exporter of metallurgical coal used in the steel-making process and is a major supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities and manufacturing industries across the country. The company, through its affiliates, employs approximately 6,400 people and operates more than 60 mines and 14 coal preparation facilities in the regions of Northern and Central Appalachia and the Powder River Basin. More information about Alpha can be found on the company's Web site at http://www.alphanr.com/.
Alpha Natural Resources
CONTACT: Ted Pile, +1-276-623-2920, tpile@alphanr.com, or Rick Nida,
+1-276-739-5304, rnida@alphanr.com, both of Alpha Natural Resources
Web Site: http://www.alphanr.com/
