Two years after awful accident, Kentucky officials still at odds over penalties for coal-mine operator

One of the more outrageous episodes we have read about recently is the case of Gary Wayne Bentley, a Kentucky coal operator and emergency technician who "stood by, rendering no aid" to miner David "Bud" Morris, who "was bleeding to death, his legs nearly severed below the knees" in Harlan County on Dec. 30, 2005, writes R.G. Dunlop in The Courier-Journal. "Medical professionals later said prompt medical assistance would have saved Morris' life."

Morris's widow, Stella, told Dunlop, "He was the only guy trained to do anything, and he let my husband die." (Tim Webb photo shows Stella Morris, son Landen and photo of his father)

Adding insult to outrage, after more than two years, the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing "still has not proposed penalties against the mine that are stringent enough to satisfy the panel that must approve them," the state Mine Safety Review Commission, Dunlop reports. "Late last week, while rejecting the office's fourth attempt to settle the case on terms highly favorable to Bentley, the state in effect told the office how to resolve it charge Bentley as a co-owner of the mine -- which he has acknowledged being -- rather than simply as a mine emergency technician."

Dunlop explains, "That would enable the state to impose a substantial fine on Bentley. It also could bar him as an owner or operator in the coal industry if he were found to have placed Morris in imminent danger of serious injury or death by intentionally violating the law. The commission invited the state to submit yet another proposed agreement and scheduled a hearing on Feb. 14." (Read more)