On Monday, April 5, an explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia killed 29 workers and raised new questions about the safety record of Massey Energy, the company that owns the mine. But as Mike Lillis reported, other Massey mines have been cited for a slew of safety violations that could put miners’ lives in danger. The Freedom Energy Mine #1 in Pike County, Ky., for example, has received 66 citations for safety violations since the Upper Big Branch accident, including 23 violations deemed “significant and substantial,” meaning they are “reasonably likely to result in a reasonably serious injury or illness under the unique circumstance contributed to by the violations.”
Using data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, TWI has compiled a running tally of safety violations racked up by the ten most cited Massey-owned mines. Check back daily for updates:
| Mine | Violations This Year | Violations Since Upper Big Branch Explosion | “Significant and Substantial” Violations Since Explosion |
| Freedom Energy Mine #1 | 249 | 66 | 23 |
| Independence Justice #1 | 115 | 0 | 0 |
| Process Energy #1 | 102 | 7 | 3 |
| Spartan’s Ruby Mine | 102 | 0 | 0 |
| Aracoma’s Alma # 1 | 98 | 7 | 5 |
| Solid Energy #1 | 92 | 4 | 1 |
| Mammoth’s Alloy Powellton | 80 | 0 | 0 |
| Spartan’s Road Fork #51 | 76 | 6 | 0 |
| Independence’s Allegiance | 76 | 2 | 0 |
| Rockhouse’s Mine #1 | 72 | 2 | 0 |