PITTSBURGH Grand jury to investigate mining accident

The miners will be witnesses as authorities try to learn why and how the accident took place.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Pennsylvania state grand jury will convene Wednesday to find out if any criminal wrongdoing led nine miners to become trapped in a flooded mine for 77 hours.
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office, working jointly with U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, sent subpoenas to four of the nine Quecreek miners Monday. Blaine Mayhugh, Ron Hileman, Tom Foy and John Phillippi are scheduled to appear in Harrisburg on Dec. 11.
The grand jury was called by the state Attorney General's office, but its findings will be shared with federal investigators.
"We have gathered information from our sources, and the state has gathered information from their sources, but we need to share that information and we're doing so," Buchanan said.
Buchanan, state prosecutors, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration have agreed to coordinate their probes into how the nine men became trapped underground July 24 after breaching an abandoned mine filled with millions of gallons of water in Somerset County.
Attorney Howard Messer, who represents seven of the miners, said his clients would appear solely as witnesses.
Focus
According to the Quecreek miners, the attorney general's office has focused its investigation on government employees and corporate officials who were responsible for ensuring safety at the mine, including executives for Black Wolf Coal Co., which operates Quecreek Mine, and the mine's owners, Delaware holding company Mincorp.
The inquiry also targets the role played by federal and state investigators and permitting officials.
Messer said his clients were in Somerset this week to give additional information about the accident to state environmental and federal mining officials without the company representatives present.
In a preliminary report, state environmental officials focused on the aftermath of the flood, not what preceded it, and failed to provide enough information about safety procedures at Black Wolf, Messer said.
"We need to fill in all the gaps they didn't have before," Messer said.