State investigators have cited a mine reclamation contractor for alcohol-related violations in the July death of a worker who drowned in a sediment pond at the Samples Mine in eastern Kanawha County.
On July 28, Mark Allen Gray, 28, died when he ran his rock truck off a haul road and into a sediment containment pond. (See photo above from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration). Gray was employed by Hawkeye Contracting Company LLC, which was performing reclamation at the site for Catenary Coal Co.
According to the new state findings, a toxicology report revealed that Gray had “alcohol present in the blood at a concentration of 0.08 percent.” Also, the report found “inactive metabolite from the consumption of marijuana was also found in the blood.” The report also said Gray had “carried on his person an alcoholic beverage in the form of a beer and an intoxicant identified as marijuana.”
State mine safety investigators report:
One opened, empty 12-ounce beer can was found inside the … truck operator’s cab … after the haul truck was retrieved from the pond.
Foreman Phillip Rife stated on two previous workdays he had detected what he believed to be the odor of alcohol on Mark Allen Gray’s breath. Security guard, Joetta Bowling, who was employed by Appalachian Security, stated that she witnessed Mark Allen Gray placing unopened cans of beer in his lunch box at the start of a recent workday. She did not relay this information to any Hawkeye Construction Company, LLC, management person.
The state Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Gray drowned and that “alcohol intoxication was a contributory factor.”
Mine safety inspectors cited Hawkeye Contracting for violating a state rule that prohibits “any intoxicant” to be carried into mines and prohibits anyone from working at a mine site when under the influence.
They also cited Hawkeye Contracting for failing to follow safe work practices as described in their Comprehensive Mine Safety Program, for Rife’s “allowing Mark Allen Gray to perform work as a truck driver after detecting the odor of alcohol on Mr. Gray’s person.”
Hawkeye was also cited for failing to remove Gray from the mine site “after having reasonable cause to believe he could be under the influence of alcohol as evidenced by the odor of alcohol on his person on two separate occasions.”
They also issued an individual proposed assessment to Rife, the foreman, for allowing Gray to work when he smelled of alcohol. State inspectors cited Rife, the job foreman, with an Individual Proposed Assessment for allowing Gray to go to work on those occasions.
State inspectors also cited Appalachian Security Inc., which provided security at the site, because one of its guards saw Gray “carrying, in his personal belongings, alcoholic beverages onto the mine site” and did nothing about it.
Hawkeye can appeal the state’s citations. Mitch Potter, president of Hawkeye Contracting, said today, “We do not allow our employees to drink on the job. We are a very reputable company. We have routine drug testing. When I have 300 employees, how do I keep a man from showing up drunk?”
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