Coal Miner Killed in Northwest Colorado

A worker at a northwestern Colorado coal processing plant has become the 11th person to die at a coal mine in the U.S. this year.

The 32-year old man was a surface mechanic at a mine operated by Blue Mountain Energy Co. near the small community of Rangely. He was found under a two-ton container used to clean coal at a Deserado Mine production. The employee, from Vernal, Utah was working alone attempting to remove a portion of a steel beam when the accident happened.

The mine, located north of Grand Junction supplies bituminous coal to Deseret Power electric cooperative in South Jordan, Utah. the death was the first at the mine since October 1996.year, according to federal data.