Massey Energy under fire for West Virginia mine explosion

Thursday, 30 June 2011 02:25:23 (GMT+2)

US federal investigators said Wednesday that Massey Energy, which owned and operated the Upper Big Branch coal mine that killed 29 people in an April 2010 explosion, deceived government inspectors during the accident's investigation by leaving accounts of dangerous conditions out of official record books.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has reported that Massey employed two separate systems of recording safety, as well as any other problems. Safety problems and measures taken to fix the problems were recorded in a separate set of files that were not directly available to West Virginia state inspectors.

Additionally, officials from the Mine Safely and Health Administration also said that Massey executives may have pressured employees to not record, or not mention any hazardous conditions during the course of the investigation.

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