The death of an employee in one of the Imerys USA underground mines in Whitestone last week is under local and federal investigation, authorities said.
William Edward Dutton, 49, died in an industrial accident Monday, Dec. 13, according to a media summary report provided by Pickens County Sheriff Donnie Craig. Dutton lived in Turtletown, Tenn., according to Coroner Mark Godfrey.
“Officers responded to a medical emergency that resulted from an industrial accident. A short time after deputies arrived, (they) learned that the victim had passed away as an apparent result of the accident. CID (Criminal Investigation Division) and the coroner were both notified, and the scene was turned over to CID upon their arrival,” the sheriff’s report states, noting the accident occurred sometime between 8:57 and 9 a.m.
A spokeswoman with the Georgia office of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) said the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, will be handling the investigation.
An initial MSHA fatality report posted on the agency’s website last week states the accident at Whitestone Mine No. 4 was classified as “powered haulage” and that the mined material was “crushed broken marble.”
Suzanne Bohnert of the MSHA Office of Public Affairs said in an email, “MSHA is conducting an investigation into the fatality. We will issue a preliminary report that is an initial report with a brief description of the accident.”
Stephanie Fraser, manager of the Human Resources Department at Imerys, said Dutton was a utility operator who was “found unresponsive at our Whitestone mine. That’s the info we have at this time.”
When asked if she could verify whether Dutton’s death was an accident, Fraser replied, “We don’t know anything more than that. We’re in the process of performing an investigation, as well as federal investigators from MSHA. They’ve been on site this week performing an investigation, and we do not have the results yet.”
Godfrey said he did not have much to report since the death is still under investigation.
“(Dutton) did go for a full autopsy and the results of that are pending,” he said, confirming the body was sent to the state crime lab. “The accident part of it with Mine Safey (and Health Administration) is not my area. As far as me investigating it, there’s not a whole lot there I investigate ... Anytime there’s something like that, (the) agency takes over. All I’m called out for is to pronounce (death) and take care of the body, make sure the body is provided for as far as a funeral facility, or in this case, an autopsy because it was work-related. The accidental part of that, if there was one, the Mine Safety people will handle.”
Godfrey said cause and manner of death are still “open” pending the results of the MSHA investigation.
“We’re hoping the autopsy will tell us the rest of the story; it may be spring before we know what happened here,” he said, pointing out it could be eight to 12 weeks before the results are available.
A copy of the preliminary report will be available on the agency’s website at msha.gov/data-resports/fatality-reports/search, Bohnert added. The initial report was not posted as of Monday at noon.