Ky. coal mine to pay big fine for May 2006 blast

After initially challenging the citations, the Kentucky Darby LLC coal company will pay $342,000 for safety violations and fines two years after an explosion that killed five men, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. "The company is under court order to pay by Oct. 19," MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere told reporters.

The explosion occurred in May 2006 "as two miners used an acetylene torch to cut a metal roof strap above a seal blocking off an unused part of the mine ... which ignited methane gas leaking from the seal," writes Bill Estep for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Those two men died instantly, while three others died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation as they tried to escape. The only survivor, miner Paul Ledford, suffered serious lung damage.

Representing four of the five widows and Ledford, attorney Tony Oppegard said MSHA should give the money to the families of the victims. Some survivors scoff at the amount of the fines to be paid by Kentucky Darby, which closed in April 2007. "It's a joke," said Melissa Lee, widow of 33 year-old Jimmy Lee, told James Carroll for the The Courier-Journal. "Five men died - c'mon. That's a little bitty bit to pay for the men that are gone."

The surviving victim and the families of the deceased are in the process of a wrongful-death suit against Jericol Mining Inc., which provided management and other services for the mine, writes Estep. Read the Herald-Leader's story here and The Courier-Journal's story here.