NPR—Officials: W. Va. Mine Operator (Massey) Kept Two Sets Of Safety Records

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/06/29/137493009/w-va-mine-operator-kept-two-sets-of-safety-records-investigators-say

Officials: W. Va. Mine Operator Kept Two Sets Of Safety Records

Categories: National News, Accidents and Disasters

07:46 am
June 29, 2011

Federal mine disaster investigators disclosed a few pieces of new information Tuesday night from their year-long look at the April 2010 deadly Upper Big Branch mine explosion. They said that:

— Mine owner Massey Energy kept two sets of records that chronicled safety problems. One internal set of production reports detailed those problems and how they delayed coal production. But the other records, which are reviewed by federal mine safety inspectors and required by federal law, failed to mention the same safety hazards. Some of the hazards that were not disclosed are identical to those believed to have contributed to the explosion.

— Portions of the Upper Big Branch mine hit by the explosion were not treated for excessive and explosive coal dust because the entryways or tunnels in those areas were too small to accommodate the machine used to spray the material that neutralizes coal dust.

— Gas readings taken shortly after the explosion showed too little methane to support Massey Energy's claim that a massive, naturally-occurring and unpredictable inundation of gas caused the disaster.

…

[One_Life_To_Give]

1. But will Class D Felony charges be brought?

All these years after it was made a Class D Felony for a "Safety Engineer" to fail to properly discharge his/her duties without a single test case. Will this perhaps be the first? Or more assurance that such laws have no teeth.

[MountainLaurel]

2. Aaargh

I want to see Don Blankenship doing the perp walk into prison for at least manslaughter.