CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Another Massey Energy miner was killed on the job Thursday, this one at the troubled coal operator's White Buck Coal Co. subsidiary in Greenbrier County.

Federal officials said the worker was an electrician and was run over by an underground mine shuttle car in an accident that occurred at about 8:30 a.m. at White Buck's Pocahontas Mine near Leivasy.

Further details were not available, and the name of the miner had not been released Thursday night.

The miner is the 40th coal miner to die on the job in the United States this year, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

West Virginia accounts for 32 of those deaths -- and Massey alone accounts for 31 of those, with 29 miners killed in the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster and another at its Ruby Energy subsidiary in Mingo County in May.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis issued a statement that said the Pocahontas Mine "is another in an ever-growing list of mines operated by Massey Energy with poor safety records."

Solis noted that the death occurred the same day that federal prosecutors charged four Massey mine managers with criminal safety violations stemming from the investigation of the January 2006 fire that killed two workers at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County.

"We have issued citations, closure orders, stop orders and fines to get Massey to take its safety responsibility seriously," Solis said. "But yet again today, we mourn the tragic loss of another miner whose safety was entrusted to Massey Energy."

Massey Energy issued a statement that said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and co-workers" of the miner who was killed.

In 2007, White Buck Coal Co. pleaded guilty in federal court to not making a required safety check before allowing miners to go to work at its nearby Grassy Creek No. 1 Mine. The company paid a $50,000 fine.

The Pocahontas Mine is a relatively small Massey operation, with 60 workers and a little more than 80,000 tons of coal production in 2009, according to MSHA records.

But last year, the mine's accident rate was nearly twice the national average. In the last 12 months, MSHA inspectors have cited the company for more than 260 violations, including 77 that were classified as significant and substantial, according to an enforcement summary released by MSHA.

So far this year, MSHA inspectors had issued one citation and 5 orders at the mine for "unwarrantable failure to comply" with health and safety laws. Two of those were for violations of the requirement to conduct pre-shift safety examinations and four for failing to follow the mine's roof control plan, MSHA's enforcement summary said.

"We are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure that tragedies like this never happen again," Solis said in her statement. "But ultimately, the responsibility for miner safety rests with the mine companies that own and operate the coal mines. It's well past time that Massey accept their responsibility for providing for the safety of their workers."

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.