CHARLESTON – A Kentucky woman has sued a Logan County mine operator after her husband died in an underground accident in September when rocks from the mine roof fell onto him.
Jennifer Chapman, as administratrix of the estate of Gary Chapman, filed her complaint February 7 in federal court against Mingo Logan Coal LLC, which operates the Mountainer II Mine in Sharples. The underground mine is controlled by St. Louis-based Arch Resources Inc.
Gary Chapman, 33, died September 6 in the mine after other workers found him on the mine floor with several pieces of rock lying on top of him. The South Williamson, Kentucky, man was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
diTrapano
“Gary was only 33 years old, but he had 13 years of underground mining experience and was making well over six figures to support his wife and three young children,” attorney L. Dante diTrapano told The West Virginia Record. “This is another tragic loss of a miner and a clear example of the coal company putting profits ahead of safety.”
A federal Mine Safety and Health Administration report on the accident said Mingo Logan Coal did not comply with an approved Roof Control Plan, didn’t do adequate examinations of the working area and did not have procedures in place to prevent miners from working under an unsupported roof.
MSHA said three orders and a citation were issued after Chapman’s death. It also said the company has fixed the issues.
“MSHA determined that the mine operator’s failure to comply with its own MSHA -approved Roof Control Plan was the root cause of the fatal injuries sustained by Gary Chapman,” diTrapano said.
Mingo Logan Coal was issued 2,096 fines by MSHA between January 2019 and September 2024. More than 400 of those issues were deemed “Significant and Substantial,” including the development and following of an MSHA-approved roof control plan suitable to geological conditions and the site’s mining system; control of the roof, face and ribs of working or traveling areas to protect people from roof, face or rib falls and coal or rock bursts; installation of stairways or mechanical escape facilities in shafts part of designated escapeways; and maintenance of methane monitors in permissible and proper operating condition and calibration with a known air-methane mixture at least once every 31 days.
According to the complaint, Chapman was a non-supervisory employee of Mingo Logan Coal. It says he was instructed by his foreman to operate a continuous mining machine on the day shift in the I-5 working section of the mine. The foreman also told Chapman to mine a stump from the 7 Right Crosscut across the No. 8 Entry into the 8 Right Crosscut.
The complaint says doing this required Chapman to take an extended cut, and it says the area of the mine had been experiencing “adverse roof conditions during mining operations on multiple prior shifts, including the evening shift of September 5, 2024.”
“These adverse roof conditions were known and documented by foremen at Mountaineer II Mine,” the complaint states. “Adverse roof conditions in an underground coal mine create a risk of serious injury and death for coal miners who work in the vicinity of such conditions. The risk of serious injury or death increases significantly when coal is mined using extended (i.e. deeper) cuts.”
The complaint says the MSHA-approved Roof Control Plan for the mine prohibited such cuts, and it says the foreman intentionally exposed Chapman to the adverse roof conditions.
It says Chapman was hit by a falling rock at 5:55 p.m. after taking an extended cut. He was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m. at the hospital.
Mingo Logan Coal is accused of deliberate intent.
The estate seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interests and other relief.
The estate is being represented by diTrapano, David H. Carriger and Timothy D. Houston of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by Justin J. Marcum and Marsha Webb Rumora of Marcum Rumora & Associates in Williamson.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:25-cv-00079