CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Eighteen-year-old Adam Lanham had been working at International Coal Group's Sentinel Mine in Barbour County for 33 days. The Mill Creek native was barely a year out of Tygart Valley High School.

Lanham was an apprentice miner, or "red hat." Mine managers were supposed to be closely supervising him.

But on May 30, Lanham was killed when he was run over by a scoop that was driven by the foreman who was supposed to be doing the supervising. Another experienced miner in the area was also otherwise occupied, running a grader.

In a new report, state investigators blame Lanham's death on inadequate supervision. The state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training cited ICG subsidiary Wolf Run Mining with a contributing violation, and issued an "imminent danger order" regarding the operation's supervision of apprentice miners.

"The practice of a foreman or experienced miner operating mining equipment, while having charge of an apprentice miner, does not ensure that the apprentice is effectively supervised with regard to safety practices, nor is instructed in safe mining practices," the state agency said.

The report on Lanham's death was one of two mining death reports released by the state office Tuesday morning during a meeting of the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety.

The two deaths are among four coal-mining deaths so far this year in West Virginia and 16 deaths so far across the country, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The reports addressed deaths at mines operated by companies where major accidents in January 2006 brought renewed calls for tougher mine safety enforcement. ICG owns the Sago Mine, where 12 miners died in a Jan. 2, 2006, explosion. The other new report covered the death on May 16 at Massey Energy's Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine, where two miners were killed in a Jan. 19, 2006, conveyor belt fire.

In the May 16 incident, Massey electrician Nathan Dove, 24, of Chattaroy, was electrocuted while he tried to repair a power cable for an underground mine shuttle car. Using a pair of cable cutters, Dove cut into the live power cable, investigators found.

State investigators cited Massey because no one turned off electricity to the shuttle car before Dove began his repairs. Mine safety regulations require that the power be shut off, and the equipment locked and tagged, before such repairs begin.

Jeff Gillenwater, a spokesman for Massey, said that it was up to Dove to secure the equipment, and that the company provides "extensive training" on the subject.

"We are not sure why Mr. Dove did not lock and tag out this piece of equipment prior to working on it," Gillenwater said. "Electricians understand that it is their duty to lock and tag any piece of equipment they are working on."

But state investigators reported that none of the other employees in the immediate area - including section foreman Dave R. Runyon - checked or asked if the shuttle car was powered down before Dove started work on it. Also, Dove had a voltage detector that was not working properly, the state's report said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Eighteen-year-old Adam Lanham had been working at International Coal Group's Sentinel Mine in Barbour County for 33 days. The Mill Creek native was barely a year out of Tygart Valley High School.

Lanham was an apprentice miner, or "red hat." Mine managers were supposed to be closely supervising him.

But on May 30, Lanham was killed when he was run over by a scoop that was driven by the foreman who was supposed to be doing the supervising. Another experienced miner in the area was also otherwise occupied, running a grader.

In a new report, state investigators blame Lanham's death on inadequate supervision. The state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training cited ICG subsidiary Wolf Run Mining with a contributing violation, and issued an "imminent danger order" regarding the operation's supervision of apprentice miners.

"The practice of a foreman or experienced miner operating mining equipment, while having charge of an apprentice miner, does not ensure that the apprentice is effectively supervised with regard to safety practices, nor is instructed in safe mining practices," the state agency said.

The report on Lanham's death was one of two mining death reports released by the state office Tuesday morning during a meeting of the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety.

The two deaths are among four coal-mining deaths so far this year in West Virginia and 16 deaths so far across the country, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The reports addressed deaths at mines operated by companies where major accidents in January 2006 brought renewed calls for tougher mine safety enforcement. ICG owns the Sago Mine, where 12 miners died in a Jan. 2, 2006, explosion. The other new report covered the death on May 16 at Massey Energy's Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine, where two miners were killed in a Jan. 19, 2006, conveyor belt fire.

In the May 16 incident, Massey electrician Nathan Dove, 24, of Chattaroy, was electrocuted while he tried to repair a power cable for an underground mine shuttle car. Using a pair of cable cutters, Dove cut into the live power cable, investigators found.

State investigators cited Massey because no one turned off electricity to the shuttle car before Dove began his repairs. Mine safety regulations require that the power be shut off, and the equipment locked and tagged, before such repairs begin.

Jeff Gillenwater, a spokesman for Massey, said that it was up to Dove to secure the equipment, and that the company provides "extensive training" on the subject.

"We are not sure why Mr. Dove did not lock and tag out this piece of equipment prior to working on it," Gillenwater said. "Electricians understand that it is their duty to lock and tag any piece of equipment they are working on."

But state investigators reported that none of the other employees in the immediate area - including section foreman Dave R. Runyon - checked or asked if the shuttle car was powered down before Dove started work on it. Also, Dove had a voltage detector that was not working properly, the state's report said.

State inspectors also cited Massey for eight noncontributing violations, including one that said the mine had inadequate ventilation. Six of the eight noncontributing violations covered a variety of electrical problems, including improper grounding of electrical equipment and failure to properly mark circuit breakers to show what equipment was being energized.

"We're concerned," state mine safety director Ron Wooten said when asked about the noncontributing violations. "You can't find that many violations and not have a concern."

In the report on Lanham's death, state officials noted that Lanham was employed by a contractor, Mine Temp LLC. The firm provides apprentice miners to ICG. Some of those miners are apparently offered ICG jobs after they complete their training, officials said.

Ira Gamm, a spokesman for ICG, said that he could not immediately say how many of the workers at the Sentinel Mine are apprentice miners. Gamm said ICG plans to appeal the citations issued in Lanham's death.

Mine safety board member Chris Hamilton, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Coal Association, noted that state rules allow three apprentice miners for every one supervisor at an underground mine face. Why, Hamilton asked, was ICG cited in this case when it didn't violate that limit?

Alan Lander, a state supervising inspector, said that Lanham's supervisor, foreman John Jackson, was operating a piece of equipment at the same time he was supposed to be training and supervising Lanham. "He can't do both," Lander said.

In its report, the state also said that testimony from other workers revealed "that Mr. Lanham was having problems staying awake during the shift."

Board member Teddy Hapney, a United Mine Workers representative, said he didn't understand why those remarks were included in the state report.

"He may have been sleepy," Hapney said. "But I've not seen a person fall asleep walking. Why would we even make this comment?"

Lander said that the investigation showed "I guess it wasn't just this one day."

Terry Farley, administrator for the state mine safety office, said that an autopsy on Lanham revealed no toxicological issues that investigators would have been concerned about.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or at 348-1702.