Companies sued over fatal ’06 mine accident

MADISON, W.Va. (AP) — The widow of a miner killed in a natural-gas-pipeline explosion has sued Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co.

Fifty-eight-year-old Sissonville resident Paul K. Moss was operating a bulldozer when it struck what the lawsuit says was an unmarked 16-inch gas line at Massey’s Black Castle mine in Boone County on Feb. 1, 2006.

The suit, which also names natural-gas-line owner Equitable Resources Inc., claims the companies knew the line was buried in the area where Moss was working.

The suit does not seek specific damages. It was filed Thursday in Boone County Circuit Court.

Representatives of the companies could not be reached Sunday.