Safety violations are on the rise this year at a Massey Energy underground mine where a worker was electrocuted Friday night, according to the latest federal government data.

Aracoma Coal Co. Alma No. 1 Mine's violation rate has increased by about 27 percent over last year, according to U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data.

And MSHA records show that two other Massey workers have died during the last five years in accidents similar to the one that killed electrician Nathan Dove on Friday at Aracoma.

Around 8:45 p.m. Friday, Dove, a 24-year-old electrician from Chattaroy, was repairing a shuttle car inside the Aracoma Mine. He was killed when he cut into the shuttle car's electrical power cord with a set of cable cutters, according to a preliminary MSHA report released Monday.

Dove was the second coal miner in West Virginia and the ninth nationwide to die on the job this year, according to MSHA.

Massey did not immediately respond to Gazette questions Monday. A company spokesman told The Associated Press, "Our focus is currently on the family and the co-workers."

Massey has said that safety performance has improved greatly at the Aracoma Mine since the January 2006 fire that killed two workers.

Last month, the company issued a news release to announce that MSHA had "selected" Aracoma to receive an award for "outstanding safety achievement." Massey said that Aracoma workers had no lost-time accidents in 2007, with more than 574,000 hours worked.

"Our Aracoma members had a very difficult year after the tragedy in 2006, but they responded by pulling together to create a culture of safety," said Massey President Don Blankenship.

On Monday, MSHA spokesman Matthew Faraci said that his agency did not actually select Aracoma and that the company news release was "not quite accurate."

The Pacesetter Award that Aracoma received was given by the West Virginia State Council of the Holmes Safety Association at a ceremony in which MSHA, the state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training, mine operators, mine unions and mine vendors take part, Faraci said.

MSHA records show that the Aracoma Mine's performance did improve in 2007.

There were no deaths or lost-workday injuries reported. Violations also decreased by about 12 percent, from 585 in 2006 to 517 in 2007, according to MSHA data.

Miners Don Israel Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 46, died in the Jan. 19, 2006, fire at the Aracoma Mine near Melville, outside Logan. MSHA officials cited 25 major violations, and fined Massey Energy $1.5 million, the maximum allowed by law. Massey is appealing.

After the 2006 fire, production at Aracoma plummeted. The mine produced 1.7 million tons of coal in 2005, but only 350,000 tons in 2006. Last year, production was back up, to nearly 900,000 tons. So far in 2008, production is back up to its previous pace, with first-quarter production reported at 280,000 tons, according to company reports filed with MSHA.

But so far this year, the trend toward fewer MSHA violations has reversed, according to the most recent agency data.

Safety violations are on the rise this year at a Massey Energy underground mine where a worker was electrocuted Friday night, according to the latest federal government data.

Aracoma Coal Co. Alma No. 1 Mine's violation rate has increased by about 27 percent over last year, according to U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration data.

And MSHA records show that two other Massey workers have died during the last five years in accidents similar to the one that killed electrician Nathan Dove on Friday at Aracoma.

Around 8:45 p.m. Friday, Dove, a 24-year-old electrician from Chattaroy, was repairing a shuttle car inside the Aracoma Mine. He was killed when he cut into the shuttle car's electrical power cord with a set of cable cutters, according to a preliminary MSHA report released Monday.

Dove was the second coal miner in West Virginia and the ninth nationwide to die on the job this year, according to MSHA.

Massey did not immediately respond to Gazette questions Monday. A company spokesman told The Associated Press, "Our focus is currently on the family and the co-workers."

Massey has said that safety performance has improved greatly at the Aracoma Mine since the January 2006 fire that killed two workers.

Last month, the company issued a news release to announce that MSHA had "selected" Aracoma to receive an award for "outstanding safety achievement." Massey said that Aracoma workers had no lost-time accidents in 2007, with more than 574,000 hours worked.

"Our Aracoma members had a very difficult year after the tragedy in 2006, but they responded by pulling together to create a culture of safety," said Massey President Don Blankenship.

On Monday, MSHA spokesman Matthew Faraci said that his agency did not actually select Aracoma and that the company news release was "not quite accurate."

The Pacesetter Award that Aracoma received was given by the West Virginia State Council of the Holmes Safety Association at a ceremony in which MSHA, the state Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training, mine operators, mine unions and mine vendors take part, Faraci said.

MSHA records show that the Aracoma Mine's performance did improve in 2007.

There were no deaths or lost-workday injuries reported. Violations also decreased by about 12 percent, from 585 in 2006 to 517 in 2007, according to MSHA data.

Miners Don Israel Bragg, 33, and Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 46, died in the Jan. 19, 2006, fire at the Aracoma Mine near Melville, outside Logan. MSHA officials cited 25 major violations, and fined Massey Energy $1.5 million, the maximum allowed by law. Massey is appealing.

After the 2006 fire, production at Aracoma plummeted. The mine produced 1.7 million tons of coal in 2005, but only 350,000 tons in 2006. Last year, production was back up, to nearly 900,000 tons. So far in 2008, production is back up to its previous pace, with first-quarter production reported at 280,000 tons, according to company reports filed with MSHA.

But so far this year, the trend toward fewer MSHA violations has reversed, according to the most recent agency data.

Through May 6, MSHA inspectors had issued 164 citations and orders at the Aracoma Mine. The rate of violations per hours worked has increased by 27 percent - from 1.12 violations per 1,000 hours worked to 1.42 per 1,000 hours worked, according to an analysis of MSHA data.

In the last five years, at least two other Massey miners have died in accidents involving trailing cables, the electrical cords used to power underground mining equipment.

Around 5:15 p.m. on July 19, 2003, Rodney Alan Scurlock, a 27-year-old electrician, was repairing a shuttle car at Massey subsidiary Performance Coal's Upper Big Branch Mine-South in Raleigh County.

Scurlock came into contact with stray electrical energy released by a damaged trailing cable, which was laying in mud and water in the area where he was working. MSHA cited the company for allowing the damaged cables in the area. The company is appealing a $1,200 fine.

On Feb. 5, 2004, electrician Kenneth McNeely was electrocuted while fixing a continuous mining machine trailing cable at Massey subsidiary Spartan Mining's Ruby Energy Mine near Delbarton, Mingo County.

The cable had been severed when it was run over by the mining machine.

The repairs were being conducted during a mine-wide power outage.

When power was restored, the circuit breaker closed, causing a shock that killed McNeely, reports said.

MSHA cited the company for six violations, and assessed fines of $128,000.

Massey appealed, but an administrative law judge increased the total fines to nearly $193,000.

Judge Jerold Feldman faulted Massey for not taking the continuous mining machine out of service, saying it was "a grievous departure from industrial safety standards."

"There are no facts that mitigate these aggravating circumstances," Feldman wrote in a June 2007 ruling.

Feldman increased from $3,700 to $30,000 the fine for not evacuating the mine when the power outage shut down the underground ventilation fan.

The judge said it was "surprising" that MSHA characterized this violation as not being likely to result in a significant injury.

"The loss of ventilation can cause a chaotic situation that breeds poor judgment and a lack of due diligence if miners are not removed from the working section," the judge wrote.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.