US District Judge Irene Berger on Wednesday rejected Massey’s dismissal motion in a Beckley courtroom which, according to the Associated Press, now allowed a case by the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust to proceed.

The investor group filed suit against Massey less than a month after the April 5, 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch underground mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia.

The individuals said Massey regularly purported to be one of the industry’s safest companies and by promoting its safety achievements, they were led to believe safety was a priority.

Additionally, the investors claimed Massey's deception led to falsely inflated stock prices between February 2008 and July 2010.

According to federal records, UBB was shut down by the US Mine Safety and Health Administration 48 times in 2009 alone but abatements of the violations allowed the operation to reopen shortly after.

From the beginning of 2009 until the day of the explosion, MSHA issued 645 violations to Massey, with $US1.2 million in penalties but the investors were not aware of them.

Massey and the UBB mine were both taken over last June by Alpha Natural Resources and the mine remains closed.

ANR did not release any public comment on Berger’s decision by press time.

To date, four investigations into the UBB blast have been released, including reports from MSHA, the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training, the United Mine Workers and an independent panel commissioned by former governor Joe Manchin.

All have in some way concurred that Massey was at fault, citing worn and broken equipment that created a spark which subsequently ignited accumulated methane gas and high levels of explosive coal dust.