Samples Mine was the location of the ninth coal mining fatality this year, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

On July 28 at approximately 9:43 a.m., Mark A. Gray, a 28-year-old contract equipment operator with six years mining experience was fatally injured when his articulating dump truck overturned into a newly constructed sediment pond on mine property, according to the MSHA.

Initial reports from emergency responders was that the man was in an excavator at the time of his death.

MSHA recently released a preliminary report that says that upon entering the pond, the truck rolled onto its top, submersing the operator’s compartment for approximately five minutes.

The fatality was reported to MSHA at 10:20 a.m. and has been categorized by MSHA as a powered haulage accident.

According to their records, of the nine coal mining fatalities this year, four of them occurred as a result of powered haulage.

Six of the nine fatalities, nationwide, reported this year occurred on surface mines. The first surface mining fatality of the year occurred at Elk Run Coal Company’s Republic Energy surface mine on Feb. 6.

Nine days later, the second fatality of the year was reported on a surface mine in Illinois.

In addition to West Virginia, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have all reported coal mining fatalities this year.

Last week’s death of Gray at the Samples Mine came just days before workers at the mine were informed that the mine site was being closed.

More than 300 coal miners will lose their jobs due to the mine’s closure, though officials at Catenary Coal say it is a company strategy to refocus their production efforts at “lower-cost operations” that have prompted the coal mine’s closure.

The Boone County mine has had an annual production of about 2.5 million tons, according to the company’s annual report filed with the SEC.

Catenary Coal Company, LLC’s parent company is Magnum Coal, one of the area’s largest producers of coal.

In July of this year, Magnum Coal was consolidated by Patriot Coal.

“We now control 1.8 billion tons of proven and probable reserves, and we are the third-largest producer and marketer of coal in the eastern United States,” according to the 2008 annual report filed by Patriot Coal.

According to the report, Patriot Coal is currently involved in a 2001 and 2004 flood litigation in the state of West Virginia. Increased flooding in areas near surface mines has been a topic of discussion among state environmental groups.

“The outcome of the West Virginia flood litigation is subject to numerous uncertainties. Based on the Company’s evaluation of the issues and their potential impact, the amount of any future loss cannot be reasonably estimated.”

Patirot Coal was also required to pay a $6.5 million civil penalty for violations of the Clean Water Act and the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act.

The company’s annual report to stockholders also discussed how in 2007, Hobet was sued in the Boone County Courthouse by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for violations of the Clean Water Act.

This case was resolved by a settlement on Sept. 5, 2008. According to Patriot Coal’s annual report, part of the settlement is a civil penalty of $1.5 million, with $500,000 due immediately and the remaining $1 million to be paid over the course of 10 months.

The settlement also required the company to complete five supplemental environmental projects estimated to cost approximately $2.6 million, many of which focus on identifying methods for treatment of selenium discharges and studying the effects of selenium discharges and studying the effects of selenium on aquatic wildlife.

Patriot Coal also agreed on Sept. 5, 2008 to make gradual reductions in its selenium discharges by 2010 and to study potential treatments for wastewater runoff.

One of Patriot Coal’s subsidiaries is also one of the coal companies listed in the Prenter water lawsuit, filed Dec. 31, 2008.

That lawsuit seeks property damages, personal injury damages and medical monitoring costs. The plaintiffs in each case allege contamination of their drinking water wells from slurry impoundments in Boone County.

“Because of the early stages of the lawsuit, we are unable to predict the likelihood of success of the plaintiffs’ claims, thought the Company intends to vigorously defend against all claims,” the annual report to stockholders states.