Coal mining company fined $109,000 after collapsing wall buries bulldozer

CALGARY – A coal mining company is being fined more than $100,000 in connection with an incident where a collapsing wall of dirt partially buried a bulldozer.

Prairie Mines & Royalty is to pay $109,000 after pleading guilty to one charge under the Coal Conservation Act, the Alberta Energy Regulator announced Friday.

The company previously known as Coal Valley Resources admitted conducting mining operations at its Edson coal mine in western Alberta that had not been approved by the regulator and that it failed to report the March 2015 incident as soon as practicable.

No injuries occurred in the incident, which wasn’t reported until two days later.

Prairie Mines is a subsidiary of Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Company.