GILES COUNTY, Va. – The investigation into a deadly Giles County mining incident has been completed, according to the Virginia Department of Energy.
In June 2022, 50-year-old Stuart “Ray” Moore, an excavator operator working in Lhoist North America of Virginia’s #1 mine, was engulfed in an uncontrolled slide of material and passed away, officials said.
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Lhoist North America of Virginia’s #1 mine is located along Big Stony Creek in Giles County and produced limestone used to make quicklime and hydrated lime up until 2021, at which point the decision was made to begin mine closure operations, according to Virginia Energy.
As the fatality investigation began, the Department of Energy indicated that a large amount of lime kiln dust started moving through a vertical opening to Level 7, where Moore, was operating the excavator to remove this material.
We’re now told that Moore was helping to remove lime kiln dust, which was stored in portions of the mine years ago. Officials said the material was stored on several levels of the mine, and the dust stored on Level 4 was sent to Level 7 for removal.
Department officials said water flowing into the mine, combined with the lime kiln dust, resulted in a slope failure in the area of the incident as well.
[READ MORE: Officials release more details on fatal Giles County mining accident]
As the investigation was underway, Virginia Energy said they found that the dust removal method “did not ensure slope stability as required by regulation to prevent uncontrolled movement.”
In addition, officials said the lighting in the area may have made it difficult to watch the slope for changes, and that Moore was not properly trained for the tasks he was working on.
According to Virginia Energy, the area where the incident happened is still under a Closure Order, which means no work can be done in the area until new plans are submitted and approved.
There have been multiple Notices of Violation issued to Lhoist North America for defective equipment lighting, insufficient illumination of work areas, failure to ensure bank stability, and for not properly training the employees, according to the department.
The Certified Mine Foreman is also facing a violation for not conducting a workplace examination before work began in the area, which Virginia Energy said is a required task.
Virginia Energy and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) worked together to investigate the incident.