Federal inspectors find 60-plus serious violations at Massey mines after explosion killed 29
By Tim Huber, APFriday, April 16, 2010
Serious problems turn up at other Massey mines
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine, federal mine safety records show.
Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia after the April 5 blast, according to records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency has tentatively blamed preventable accumulations of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970.
The violations include conveyer belt problems at Massey’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in West Virginia, where a belt fire killed two men in 2006. A Kentucky mine was cited for allowing coal dust to pile up on three occasions since the explosion.
Stricklin has told district managers to look more closely at all mine ventilation systems and the buildup of methane, and to move rock dusting surveys to the front end of the quarterly inspection.
Stricklin said he was embarrassed the industry wasn’t able to prevent the Upper Big Branch tragedy.
“An explosion of this magnitude basically sends us back 40 years. All explosions are preventable,” he said.
Massey is facing its first wrongful death lawsuit over the blast, filed by Marlene Griffith in Raleigh County Circuit Court. The lawsuit also targets Performance Coal, the Massey subsidiary that operated the underground mine.
The lawsuit claims Massey’s handling of working conditions at the mine, plus its history of safety violations, amounted to aggravated conduct that rises above the level of ordinary negligence.
Griffith and her husband, William Griffith, were planning to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary April 30, the lawsuit said.
Mark Moreland, a Charleston lawyer representing Griffith, said that William Griffith was concerned about safety in the mine and had avoided serious injury during a rock fall there a week before his death.
MSHA issued the citations while conducting spot checks and routine inspections at the Massey operations. Inspectors also conducted spot inspections at mines operated by other major coal producers, including Consol Energy, International Coal Group and Alpha Natural Resources.
Agency records show the problems were not universal; several Massey mines weren’t cited at all after the inspections.
Among those that came up clean is Massey’s Tiller No. 1 mine in Virginia. Federal inspectors had warned Massey to improve safety at the mine last fall or face heightened enforcement for a pattern of serious violations.
President Barack Obama has ordered a sweeping review of coal mines with poor safety records and called for stronger mining laws.
Mines in West Virginia were asked to stop producing coal Friday and concentrate on safety in memory of the Upper Big Branch victims.
Tags: Accidents, Barack Obama, Charleston, Energy, Explosions, North America, Personnel, United States, West Virginia
