Pennsylvania coal mine accident kills one

Pennsylvania, PA

A Pennsylvania coal mine accident killed at least one worker Monday morning, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.

The investigation at the Buck Mountain Anthracite Mine, in rural Schuylkill Haven, was taken over by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the State Police said.

"We have one confirmed fatality," Kurt Knaus, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, told The Associated Press. "I believe it is a recovery and not a rescue operation."

The mine -- in eastern Pennsylvania 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia -- is operated by R&D Coal Co. Calls to the company were not immediately returned.

According to records on the MSHA's Web site, an explosion occurred at the same mine in 2004 injuring 4 workers.

Eastern Pennsylvania has the nation's only deposits of anthracite, a type of hard, relatively clean-burning coal that once heated millions of homes but now represents a tiny sliver of the U.S. coal industry, according to the AP.

The mines still operating are typically small with only a few miners, the AP said.
Source: © UPI News