Serious problems found at mines

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners, adding to fallout from the disaster that includes a wrongful-death lawsuit by one of the men’s widows.

Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey coal 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 build-ups of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the worst U.S. coal-mining disaster since 1970.

The miner’s widow accuses the company of a history of safety violations that amount to negligence in the first wrongful-death lawsuit over the explosion, which she filed Thursday.

Investigators were reviewing records from the site of the blast and waiting for dangerous gases to be ventilated before going underground at the Upper Big Branch mine. It probably will be another week until investigators can safely go in, MSHA Administrator Kevin Stricklin said.

To tally violations at other Massey sites, The Associated Press checked inspection records for all of the company’s approximately 70 underground coal mines in the U.S. from April 5 through Thursday. Mines operated by other companies also were inspected during the same period.

Stricklin said MSHA hasn’t been disproportionately targeting Massey since the blast, nor has it increased the pace of inspections.

Still, Stricklin sharply criticized the company for violations found in the last 10 days.

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