Greenwire: Federal inspectors at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch coal mine concluded earlier this year that senior managers demonstrated “reckless disregard” for safety by ordering a foreman to ignore the mine’s citation for faulty ventilation practices, according to the handwritten notes by inspectors.
According to the January notes, a president and vice president of Massey Performance Coal subsidiary said “not to worry” about the ventilation problem, telling a mine employee that “it was fine.” The notes add to the paper trail of safety violations at the mine, the site of the April 5 blast that killed 29 workers in the deadliest U.S. mine accident in 40 years.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector said “the operator has shown high negligence due to fact of management knowing where problem is,” noting that the ventilation problem in question could “result in fatal injuries.”
Though this particular citation was remedied by Massey, investigations into the cause of the accident are focusing on other ventilation problems that could have allowed explosive methane gas to accumulate.
“Massey’s Board of Directors has instructed counsel and mine experts to conduct a full evaluation of events, and it would be premature to comment on specific violations before they have had time to finish,” the company said in a statement. “It’s important to note, however, that all MSHA violations must be abated. Most citations are corrected the same day, often immediately. For those that require more time, a deadline is given by MSHA to correct the situation” (Steven Mufson, Washington Post, April 23). – GN