BY KATHY STILL
Sep 14, 12:00 AM EDT

BIG STONE GAP – State mining regulators have imposed the maximum civil fines on a strip mine company, saying that "reckless conduct" resulted in a half-ton boulder that crushed a 3-year-old to death.

Matt Mining Co. must pay a total of $15,000, $5,000 for each of the three violations it received following the Aug. 20 incident. The company holds the permit for the 2,000-acre strip mine, which sits above the Inman neighborhood in Appalachia.

Jeremy Kyle Davidson was killed when the rock rolled down a steep slope and crashed through his bedroom at 514 Inman Road. The boulder then rolled through a wall into an adjacent bedroom where the boy’s 8-year-old brother slept. He and his parents, Dennis and Cindy Davidson, were not injured.

State regulators could have used the normal point system to determine the penalty amount, but opted to waive that method in assessing the fines, Mike Abbott, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, said Monday.

The point system tallies a number of factors to determine the penalty amount, Abbott said. The seriousness of the violation, any negligence, good faith in compliance and a history of previous violations are factors used in the point system, Abbott said.

"We have the option to waive the point system and go to the maximum," Abbott said.

Information on how often the point system is waived was not readily available Monday, Abbott said.

The three violations were issued after the investigation revealed that a dozer operator, working in darkness with only equipment lights, dislodged the boulder and caused it to roll off the mine permit site as an access road was being widened so it could be used to haul coal. The company had a permit for the access road, but not to transform the road to handle coal hauling.

Matt Mining holds the mine permit, and A&G Coal operates the site as a contractor.

Company officials could not be reached Monday for comment.

The company was also cited for not having clear signs outlining the mine permit area.

In a strongly worded report, state regulators said the company was operating at night near occupied dwellings and installed no barriers to keep the rock and dirt from rolling down the slope. The potential for rolling debris should have been anticipated, regulators said.

The report states that "danger was ever-present" since the Inman homes were 600 feet below.

"The danger greatly increased when such operation continued without adequate protective efforts during night-time hours," the report states.

The lack of proper markers hindered workers from determining the proper mine permit area, and also hindered the containment of the rock and dirt on the site, according to the report. The company "exhibited reckless conduct" by not having permanent markers in place and fully visible at all times during mining, the report notes.

The area where the violations occurred was immediately above the steep slope and that posed a threat to public health and safety, according to the report.

A certified letter outlining the fines was sent to the company on Sept. 8, but the information was not made public until the company was notified. The company has the right to ask for an administrative review if a written request is made within 30 days of the fine notification, Abbott said.

kstill@bristolnews.com | (276) 679-1338