Mine Blast That Killed 29 Prompts F.B.I. Inquiry

Mine Blast That Killed 29 Prompts F.B.I. Inquiry
By IAN URBINA
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: April 30, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/us/01mine.html?th&emc=th


WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. has interviewed more than 20 employees of Massey Energy in a criminal investigation of the explosion that killed 29 of the company’s miners last month in West Virginia, according to two officials from the federal mine safety agency and the Department of Justice.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was under way, said that more interviews were planned in the next couple of weeks.

Spokesmen for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the F.B.I. declined to comment about their investigations.

A statement released by Massey, which owns the Upper Big Branch mine, where the explosion occurred, said the company had no knowledge of criminal wrongdoing and was cooperating fully with the investigation.

An Upper Big Branch miner who appeared before a federal grand jury within the past two weeks said investigators seemed especially interested in the mine’s ventilation system, specifically whether certain air-lock doors and a storage shaft known as the glory hole were properly sealed to control the flow of clean and contaminated air. Both issues were raised in a New York Times article last month about Massey’s safety practices.

The miner, who asked for anonymity because he still worked for the Upper Big Branch mine and was not permitted to speak publicly, said he was contacted by federal prosecutors a week after the explosion, which mining experts believe was most likely caused by a dangerous buildup of methane and coal dust.

The mine had been cited at least 44 times in the last two years for major methane violations.