Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) announced that the U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) today issued its final report on the fatal roof fall accident that occurred April 28, 2010 at the Dotiki mine operated by ARLP's independent operating subsidiary Webster County Coal, LLC. The accident tragically claimed the lives of two Dotiki miners, Justin Travis and Michael Carter.
Following the accident, Webster County Coal and MSHA cooperatively conducted independent investigations to determine both the causes of the fatal roof fall accident and means to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Webster County Coal submitted its investigative findings to MSHA on June 4, 2010.
"The MSHA investigation confirms the factual findings of our own internal investigation – this roof fall was an unpredictable accident involving unforeseeable geological conditions," said Kenny Murray, Vice President of Operations at Webster County Coal. Mr. Murray, a former MSHA Senior Executive and a recognized authority on mine safety, has conducted numerous investigations and served as the MSHA Lead Accident Investigator for the fatal mine fire accident at Aracoma in January 2006.
With regard to the citation issued by MSHA in conjunction with the report, Murray stated, "At no time during its investigation did MSHA indicate that this accident was preventable or that Webster County Coal was in any way negligent. To the contrary, the MSHA report specifically acknowledges '[t]he Approved Roof Control Plan was being complied with at the time of the accident' and that '[t]he absence of any sign of 'slips' in the immediate roof gave no warning for the need to install supplemental or additional support.' Furthermore, in its citation MSHA specifically found that Webster County Coal was not negligent. In light of these facts, we strongly believe the citation issued today by MSHA is not justified."
Dotiki, the largest mine in Kentucky and one of the largest underground mines in the United States, employs more than 400 miners and has almost 600 miles of ventilated underground tunnel – longer than the distance from the Dotiki mine near Madisonville, Kentucky to Washington, D.C.
About Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.
ARLP is a diversified producer and marketer of coal to major United States utilities and industrial users. As the nation's only publicly traded master limited partnership involved in the production and marketing of coal, ARLP is currently the fifth largest coal producer in the eastern United States with mining operations in the Illinois Basin, Northern Appalachian and Central Appalachian coal producing regions. ARLP operates nine mining complexes in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia and is also constructing a new mining complex in West Virginia. In addition, ARLP operates a coal loading terminal on the Ohio River at Mount Vernon, Indiana.
News, unit prices and additional information about ARLP, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are available at http://www.arlp.com. For more information, contact the investor relations department of ARLP at (918) 295-7674 or via e-mail at investorrelations@arlp.com.
Contacts:
Brian L. Cantrell,
918-295-7673
