Rock crushing accidents prompt road closure

Following a pair of serious workplace accidents this fall at rock quarries, Whitman County commissioners last week decided to limit access to a crushing operation north of Palouse.

James Hussey, 38, Peck, Idaho, was killed Sept. 13 after being electrocuted while working on a rock crushing crew for DeAtley Crushing Service of Clarkston at the Doneen pit east of Oakesdale.

Kyle Phillips, a 21-year-old construction worker from Clarkston, remained in Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane Monday from injuries sustained when he rolled a truck backwards down a 20-foot slope at Van Dyke quarry near Malden while working for a DeAtley crew Nov. 14.

The Office of Mining Safety and Health Administration is investigating both accidents. The county was also recently cited by the agency for allowing workers without proper mining training to work at county quarries.

“With this elevated awareness of mine safety, I just thought it would be prudent for the county to shut this down,” said Public Works Director Mark Storey.

Storey noted neither of the accidents were for county projects, but said the quarries are permitted through the county. The county leases the quarries, but the owners of the quarries retain the rights to lease them out to others.

Storey said the closure of the road by Palouse is a precautionary measure.

“To have two accidents in a couple of months - serious mine accidents - has changed the game for us,” said Storey.

Crews from Seubert Excavating of Cottonwood are crushing rock for county road use at Gnaedinger Quarry on Tidwell Road just north of Palouse.

The road will be closed for the next three to five weeks as Seubert crews finish the job.

Primarily affected will be the owners of Palouse River Kennels, a dog boarding operation set on Tidwell Road. The road running west from the kennel to the highway will be closed, but Tidwell Road runs to the east and provides access to the north end of Palouse.

Commissioner O’Neill asked if the closure of Tidwell Road will change mine regulators’ perception of the county’s approach to mining operations.

“To keep an active road with public access open right next to a mining operation would probably draw their attention,” Storey replied.