CHARLESTON (AP) — West Virginia is preparing to add coal barge inspections to its oversight of the mining industry after the drowning death of a miner who fell overboard late last year, the state’s top mine safety official said Wednesday.

Barge inspections had been left to the U.S. Coast Guard until the death of miner Mark McIntyre at Consol’s McElroy Mine coal preparation plant in Marshall County on Dec. 30. State investigators concluded the 58-year-old McIntyre, who was wearing a life jacket, fell into the Ohio River while inspecting barges in a newly issued report on the accident.

The state did not cite Consol for any violations as a result of the accident, according to the report. A spokesman for the Canonsburg, Pa.-based company did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The state Attorney General’s Office has since concluded that the state is responsible for inspecting coal barges, Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training Director Ron Wooten said. Part of the reasoning for that decision is that the Coast Guard doesn’t have jurisdiction to inspect barges while they’re tied up, Wooten said.

The new duties are expected to further strain Wooten’s short-staffed agency, which has struggled to complete four mandatory annual inspections at each of the state’s coal mines for several years.

“I do not want the jurisdiction for this agency,” Wooten said. “Our guys are coal miners. They’re not rivermen.”

However, Wooten said the agency is gathering information to educate mine inspectors about barge safety and train them to work on potentially slippery barges that are prone to bobbing up and down in swift currents. Inspectors won’t be allowed to board barges until they’re trained, he said.

Separately, the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety is expected to consider barge safety regulations. Currently, state mining rules cover only mine property, not barges.

New rules likely would cover life jackets, lighting, notification when a mine employee boards a barge, and how far mine workers are allowed to go out on barges, Wooten told the board, which has rule-making power. Tethers or other devices to prevent falls also are likely, Wooten said.

Consol is the largest coal producer east of the Mississippi and operates mines Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Penn-sylvania, Ohio and Utah.