The use of a cutting torch and flawed construction of a safety barrier caused a May 20 explosion at an eastern Kentucky coal mine that killed five miners, a state investigation has concluded.Citing a series of safety violations, the state Office of Mine Safety and Licensing found that the underground blast was triggered by two miners using the torch to remove a metal roof strap intersecting an area of the Kentucky Darby No. 1 Mine that employees knew was leaking methane, according to The Courier-Journal’s web site.
The seal, intended to keep methane from leaking into the working part of the mine, was improperly constructed; use of the torch in that part of the mine was illegal; and the leaking methane should have been immediately corrected when it was first noted, according to the report.
In addition, the mine superintendent, co-owner Ralph Napier and two other company supervisors admitted to investigators that they were not familiar with approved procedures for constructing the seals, the report said.
As a result of their supervisors’ ignorance, the employees who built the seals were not properly trained to do the job, the state concluded.
Napier’s attorney, Kent Hendrickson, on Thursday characterized the state’s report as “incomplete” and said Kentucky should have waited to release its findings until the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration ends its investigation.
MSHA spokesman Dirk Fillpot said Tuesday that its investigation probably will be completed and made public early next year.
Kentucky Darby was cited by the state for seven violations.
The explosion was so powerful that it ruptured oil cans and broke mirrors on vehicles parked outside the mine.