Arlington, VA – The Mine Safety and Health Administration issued notices of a potential pattern of violations to two West Virginia coal mines formerly owned by Massey Energy, the agency announced Aug. 31. Massey Energy is the former owner of the Upper Big Branch Mine-South, where 29 miners died in an explosion in April 2010.
Randolph Mine (operated by Inman Energy) and Justice No. 1 Mine (operated by Independence Coal Co. Inc.) did not receive potential POV notices during their last screening in November 2010, but were audited to determine whether they had underreported injuries. MSHA found that Randolph and Justice failed to report or inaccurately reported a total of 24 injuries, which resulted in 1,125 lost workdays.
Massey Energy initially refused to turn over incident, injury and illness data, but the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ruled in favor of MSHA. Massey’s new owner, Alpha Natural Resources Inc., then agreed to provide the information.
