The Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training has reported that West Virginia has suffered its third coal mining fatality of the year.

A miner was killed Tuesday morning at Newtown Energy's Eagle Mine near Comfort. There has been varying reports as to where on the coal mining site the accident occurred – whether it happened in Kanawha County or Boone County is still unclear.

The West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training has identified the three victims in a Boone County mining accident that happened Tuesday morning.

Charles Dixon, 53, a miner with 25 years of experience, was killed at the Newtown Energy Eagle Mine near Comfort, according to officials at the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training.

According to initial reports, two other miners were injured in the accident.

The accident involved a hoist car, which is used to lower workers into the mine, Jarerett told reporters.

The accident occurred just weeks after the Mine Safety and Health Administration put 10 coal mine operators on notice for potential patterns of violations.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) on Oct. 7, announced that 10 mine operators from around the country have received letters putting them on notice that each has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act).

"The nine coal mines and one metal/nonmetal mine represent the fifth round of mine operators to receive these letters using the current criteria for identifying mines with a potential pattern of violations," said Dr. Gregory R. Wagner, MSHA's deputy assistant secretary for policy. "We hope this notification will encourage these 10 mine operators to integrate necessary improvements into their safety and health programs."

A mine operator that has a potential pattern of recurrent significant and substantial (S&S) violations at a mine receives written notification from MSHA. An S&S violation is one that could reasonably be expected to lead to a serious injury or illness.

The operator has an opportunity to review and comment on the documents upon which the potential pattern of violations is based and to develop a corrective action plan to reduce S&S violations in order to reverse the potential pattern.

MSHA will closely monitor each affected mine's compliance record while performing a complete inspection at each mine during the ensuing 90 days.

If an operator significantly reduces its violation frequency rate, it can avoid being issued a Notice of a Pattern of Violations pursuant to Section 104(e) of the Mine Act.

If the improvement falls short of the criteria, MSHA will issue the notice. For each S&S violation subsequently found after a Notice of a Pattern of Violations is issued, MSHA will issue an order withdrawing miners from the affected area until the cited condition has been corrected.

An operator can be removed from a pattern of violations when 1) an inspection of the entire mine is completed and no S&S violations are found or 2) no withdrawal order is issued by MSHA in accordance with Section 104(e)(1) of the Mine Act within 90 days of the issuance of the pattern notice.

MSHA used data from the 24 months ending Aug. 31 to identify the mines with a potential pattern of violations.

According to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's Web site, Tuesday's fatality would be the nation's 14th coal mining death this year.