HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Hendersonville man is among four former mine managers and supervisors indicted on federal charges alleging they failed to evacuate miners during an underground coal mine fire in Illinois and later tried to conceal what happened from investigators.
A federal grand jury indicted Ronald Dale Koontz, 69, of Hendersonville, along with Demitrios George Macropoulos of Arizona, Randy L. Nowland of Illinois and Cory Taylor Humphrey of Kentucky. The charges stem from an August 2021 fire at the MC#1 Mine in Franklin County, Illinois, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, workers were using cutting torches to remove collapsed steel beams when an underground fire started on Aug. 13, 2021. Prosecutors allege the defendants chose not to evacuate miners or notify the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration after the fire could not be extinguished within 10 minutes, as required by federal law…