THE Mine Safety and Health Administration released its long-awaited final investigative report into the deadly April 2010 explosion at the West Virginia mine and also issued owner Massey Energy and its operating subsidiary with 369 citations following a two-year investigation.

The agency held a public briefing Tuesday afternoon after reviewing its findings with the families of the men killed on April 5 last year at the Raleigh County underground operation. The report concluded that the incident – the worst US coal mining disaster in four decades – was a result of Massey Energy’s corporate culture.

MSHA has issued Massey as well as its operating subsidiary Performance Coal with a total of 369 citations and orders, including a record 21 flagrant violations, and imposed a fine of $10,825,368.

In its report – which extends nearly 1000 pages with all of its cited appendices and illustrations – federal investigators said the workers in the UBB mine died in a massive coal dust explosion that began as a methane ignition.

While Massey and PCC disregarded the physical conditions noted by federal officials that ultimately led to the coal dust explosion, which stemmed from various basic safety violations, the report also cites unlawful policies and practices implemented by them that were also root causes of the explosion. They included miner intimidation, advance notice of inspections and two sets of books that logged hazards in an internal production and maintenance book but not in the official examination book.

MSHA assistant secretary for mine safety and health Joe Main said the investigation found the operator promoted and enforced a workplace culture that valued production over safety, “including practices calculated to allow it to conduct mining operations in violation of the law”.

“Every time Massey sent miners into the UBB mine, Massey put those miners’ lives at risk,” he said.

“Massey management created a culture of fear and intimidation in their miners to hide their reckless practices. Today’s report brings to light the tragic consequences of a corporate culture that values production over people.”

In all, Massey and PPC received 12 citations and orders that were deemed to be contributory to the cause of the accident. Nine have been classified as flagrant and therefore carry the highest possible penalties.

Some of the violations include:

• providing advance notice to miners of MSHA inspections;
• failing to properly conduct required examinations;
• allowing hazardous levels of loose coal, coal dust and float coal dust to accumulate;
• failing to adequately apply rock dust to the mine;
• failing to adequately train miners; and
• failing to comply with approved ventilation plans and approved roof control plans.

Non-contributory citations and orders totalled 357 and 11 of those were assessed as flagrant.

Contractor David Stanley Consulting also received two contributory and two non-contributory violations from MSHA with total penalties of $142,684. The firm, which supplied examiners and other miners to work at UBB, was cited for its examiners’ failure to properly conduct examinations.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis joined Main as well as Solicitor of Labor M Patricia Smith and MSHA coal administrator Kevin Stricklin to meet with the families before sharing the findings with the public at the National Mine Academy in Beaver, West Virginia. She said she hopes the fines assessed in connection with the fatal blast will “send a strong message” that miner safety must be top priority.

“I made a pledge to the families of those we lost, and the entire mining community, to conduct the most complete and thorough investigation possible in order to find the cause of this disaster,” she said.

“The results of the investigation lead to the conclusion that PCC/Massey promoted and enforced a workplace culture that valued production over safety, and broke the law as they endangered the lives of their miners.”

The presentation followed an agreement reached by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia and the US Department of Justice with new mine owner Alpha Natural Resources and Alpha Appalachia Holdings. Alpha acquired Massey in June.

The agreement includes nearly $210 million for remedial safety measures at all of Alpha’s operations, a trust fund for mine safety and health improvements, payment for outstanding civil penalties for former Massey operations and restitution payments for the victims’ families.

Solis noted, however, that while the settlement resolved criminal liability for Alpha, it did not provide individual protection against criminal prosecution.

“This agreement can go a long way toward changing a safety culture that was clearly broken at Massey’s mines,” she said.

“Although this agreement is significant, it in no way absolves any individuals responsible for this terrible tragedy of their criminal liability. We will continue to cooperate with the US Attorney’s Office to ensure that the responsible parties will be brought to justice.”

MSHA’s investigation of UBB was conducted in coordination with the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training, the state regulatory agency, as well as the governor’s independent investigative panel and Massey Energy. The United Mine Workers of America participated in the investigation as a miners’ representative.

The accident investigation report has been posted in its entirety at http://www.msha.gov/PerformanceCoal/PerformanceCoal.asp.

The industry responds

West Virginia state governor Earl Ray Tomblin said he hoped the report, paired with a forthcoming report by state officials, would provide the necessary analysis the industry needs to move forward and prevent another mining disaster.

“We can never, nor should we ever, forget the loss suffered by the victims' families and these thoughts keep the importance of finding solutions to prevent future catastrophes foremost in my mind,” he said.

“Working together, I am confident we can all provide a safer environment for our miners."

Industry union the United Mine Workers of America also responded, following its own recently released findings from an investigation into the explosion. International president Cecil Roberts said investigators’ cited root causes only reinforce the need for accountability, including those at the highest levels whom the union feels were “well aware of the exceedingly dangerous conditions” at the West Virginia mine.

“This is now the third reputable investigation that has been concluded, and all three agree as to the cause of this disaster – namely, that Massey failed to maintain the mine in a manner that would prevent a small methane ignition from becoming a huge explosion that took the lives of 29 miners,” he said.

“The fines imposed by MSHA reflect that – but these fines should only be the first of many penalties paid by Massey and its former corporate overlords.”

He reiterated the union was encouraging the Justice Department and US Attorney to “follow the trail of culpability up the corporate ladder and into the highest levels of the company’s hierarchy” to find those responsible.

“As I said earlier today, until someone goes to jail for what happened at this mine, justice will not have been done.”

He also pointed directly to the former Massey chairman, who stepped down from his post eight months after the explosion, for creating a culture of intimidation and feared reprisal for whistleblowers.

“They were the ones striving to re-create the old, repressive coalfield culture of the past, where the company is king and the worker just another cog to be used up and thrown away. They must be held accountable for the leading role they played in this disaster,” Roberts said.

The UMWA has called on Congress to work immediately to act for industry improvements, including strengthening whistleblower protections and bringing families into the process of investigations.

“As things are right now, the families have no standing, no voice and no official advocates in disaster investigations. That’s wrong, and must be corrected,” he said.

"We, as a nation, cannot let the victims of this tragedy die in vain. If we do not learn from this disaster –and then act on what we have learned – then theirs will become yet more names added to the thousands upon thousands before them who died in the mines to no purpose other than that of serving to feed the greed of rogue coal operators.”