A union motorman was killed at a CONSOL Energy mine in Harrison County Thursday in West Virginia's fourth coal-mining death of 2008.

Gary A. Hoffman, 55, of Rivesville, is also the fourth coal miner to die on the job nationwide in the last week.

The 14 U.S. coal miners killed so far in 2008 is twice the number that had died on the job at the same point last year, according to U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration figures.

At about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Gary Hoffman was operating the lead locomotive on an underground mine train that included a second locomotive and two cars, state and federal officials said.

CONSOL spokesman Tom Hoffman said that it was not yet clear what happened.

"He was found either along or across the track by another motorman who was following the trip," Hoffman said in an e-mail message.

Jama Jarrett, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training, said that her agency's initial reports are that Gary Hoffman "lost control of a small locomotive and either jumped or fell off."

MSHA spokesman Matthew Faraci said that the victim either fell or jumped during a derailment on a grade.

"The accident occurred in an older area of the mine which is not used frequently," Faraci said.

Tom Hoffman noted that the Robinson Run Mine had the best safety record of CONSOL's mines, and had won several state and federal awards. Last year, the mine reported a non-fatal injury rate far better than the national average.

A union motorman was killed at a CONSOL Energy mine in Harrison County Thursday in West Virginia's fourth coal-mining death of 2008.

Gary A. Hoffman, 55, of Rivesville, is also the fourth coal miner to die on the job nationwide in the last week.

The 14 U.S. coal miners killed so far in 2008 is twice the number that had died on the job at the same point last year, according to U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration figures.

At about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Gary Hoffman was operating the lead locomotive on an underground mine train that included a second locomotive and two cars, state and federal officials said.

CONSOL spokesman Tom Hoffman said that it was not yet clear what happened.

"He was found either along or across the track by another motorman who was following the trip," Hoffman said in an e-mail message.

Jama Jarrett, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training, said that her agency's initial reports are that Gary Hoffman "lost control of a small locomotive and either jumped or fell off."

MSHA spokesman Matthew Faraci said that the victim either fell or jumped during a derailment on a grade.

"The accident occurred in an older area of the mine which is not used frequently," Faraci said.

Tom Hoffman noted that the Robinson Run Mine had the best safety record of CONSOL's mines, and had won several state and federal awards. Last year, the mine reported a non-fatal injury rate far better than the national average.

Robinson Run, located near Shinnston, supplies coal to Allegheny Power's Harrison Power Station. The mine produces about 6.5 million tons of coal a year and employs about 500 workers.

Gary Hoffman was a veteran miner, with about 34 years' experience, and was a member of United Mine Workers Local 1501. He had a wife and three children, officials said.

Last year, the president of Pittsburgh-based CONSOL, J. Brett Harvey, called on the coal industry to drive accident rates to zero at every mine in the nation.

"We need to change the paradigm and we need to change it now," Harvey said during a speech given to the Utah Coal Association just days after the deaths of nine miners and rescuers at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah. "What industry must change is our incremental approach to safety improvement because it creates an unintended tolerance to accidents. We need to get to zero."

Less than two weeks after the speech, 35-year-old miner Brent Reynolds of Virgie, Ky., was killed in a roof fall at CONSOL's Bronzite Mine in Mingo County, W.Va. In late February, MSHA cited CONSOL for not complying with its approved roof control plan in that accident. Fines have not yet been assessed.

On May 30, 18-year-old Adam Lanham was killed at International Coal Group's Sentinel Mine in Barbour County when he was run over by a coal-loading scoop that was being used to haul gravel to repair an underground mine road.

And on Tuesday, two miners were killed in separate accidents at an underground mine in Indiana and a strip operation in Pike County, Ky.

The Indiana death occurred at Alliance Coal's Gibson Mine near Princeton, Ind. On Aug. 10, 2007, two contract workers and a retiree visiting the mine were killed when they fell from a bucket that was lowering them into a shaft that was under construction. MSHA cited the contractor, Frontier-Kemper Constructors Inc., with two serious violations.

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