Pictured is a visual from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's final report on the Feb. 28, 2025 death of Billy Shawn Stalker, 46, Elkhorn City, Kentucky, at the Alpha Metallurgical Resources-controlled Black Eagle Mine in Raleigh County.Â
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Pictured is a visual from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's final report on the Feb. 28, 2025 death of Billy Shawn Stalker, 46, Elkhorn City, Kentucky, at the Alpha Metallurgical Resources-controlled Black Eagle Mine in Raleigh County.Â
A Logan County man who was a Raleigh County mine worker died due to an accident on the job Tuesday, according to West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s mine inspection office and the workerÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s parent company.
Eric Bartram, 41, of Chapmanville, a mine electrician working at the Alpha Metallurgical Resources-controlled mine facility in Raleigh County, died Tuesday, according to the West Virginia Office of MinersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ Health, Safety and Training and Alpha, a Bristol, Tennessee-based company.
The Office of MinersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ Health, Safety and Training was on the scene with company officials and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and was investigating, office spokesperson Andy Malinoski said Tuesday evening.
A MSHA spokesperson said Wednesday MSHA inspectors are investigating and that no further information was available while the investigation was in process.
Alpha said Bartram suffered the fatal accident Tuesday morning at the Marfork preparation plant after nearly two decades of experience.
MSHA has not yet published a preliminary fatality report but classified the accident as a hoisting incident Tuesday.
BartramÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s death is the second mining fatality at an Alpha-controlled West Virginia mine this year and followed a lengthy history of safety and health violations recorded at the Marfork plant by MSHA, according to agency records. The site near Whitesville is operated by Alpha subsidiary Marfork Coal Company LLC.
Steam truck operator Jeffery Hudnall, 60, was fatally injured at the Marfork plant in August 2021 after when he fell more than 9 feet to a concrete pad, an incident MSHA investigators attributed to a contractor not ensuring Hudnall wore fall protection when there was a danger of falling.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe entire Alpha organization is deeply saddened by this accident,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Alpha CEO Andy Eidson said in a news release Tuesday. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œOur hearts are with EricÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s family and loved ones. We are heartbroken to learn of his loss.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Alpha did not respond to a request for comment.
Marfork siteÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s string of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜SignificantÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ MSHA violations
The Marfork coal preparation facility has been the site of 178 MSHA citations and orders for violations of health and safety standards at the site since the start of 2019, according to agency records.
Of those 178 citations and orders, 24 were for violations MSHA categorized as ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œSignificant and Substantial,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ a designation it uses for hazards deemed reasonably likely to result in serious injury.
Last month, MSHA issued a citation to Marfork Coal Company for a Significant and Substantial violation of a standard requiring mine workers wear safety belts and lines where there is danger of falling and that a second person tend a lifeline when dangerous areas are entered.
MSHA has found Significant and Substantial violations of other standards at the Marfork preparation facility in recent years, including those requiring:
Dust control measures be taken where dust significantly reduces visibility of equipment operators
Guarding of chains, pulleys, shafts and other exposed moving machine parts which could cause injury
Mobile equipment such as forklifts, tractors and trucks being equipped with compliant warning devices
A competent person inspecting mobile loading and haulage equipment before itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s placed in operation
Not performing repair or maintenance on machinery until its power is turned off and itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s blocked from moving
MSHA has issued penalties totaling $19,653 for Significant and Substantial violations at the Marfork preparation facility since the start of 2019, collecting all but $1,550, according to MSHA records.
TuesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s mining fatality is the second at an Alpha-controlled West Virginia mine this year, following the Feb. 28 death of seal construction worker Billy Shawn Stalker, 46, of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, at the Black Eagle Mine in Raleigh County. Stalker died when a portion of rib rock fell on him, per MSHA records, which the agency attributed to mine operator Marfork Coal Company not controlling the rib to protect miners or conduct adequate pre-shift examinations.
A rib is the side of a pillar or wall in an underground coal mine.
The Black Eagle Mine was the site of 2,187 safety and health violations issued by MSHA from March 2019 to March 2025, according to agency data ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” an average of just over one violation per day. Of those 2,187 violations, 435 were categorized as Significant and Substantial.
BartramÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s death marks the seventh mining fatality in West Virginia since the beginning of 2024, per MSHA records.
Mike Tony covers energy and the environment. He can be reached at mtony@hdmediallc.com or 304-348-1236. Follow on X.
