The Mine Safety and Health Administration confirmed on Tuesday that the federal panel found that mine operator Wolf Run Mining did not notify MSHA and mine rescue teams immediately after the blast, which was considered an unwarrantable failure and high negligence.

While the Upshur County mine recorded the explosion at 6.26am, federal officials were not notified of the incident until 7.50am.

MSHA said efforts to reach a mine rescue team member at home did not take place until 8.04am.

Federal regulations indicate a 15-minute window for reporting any accident with injury at a US operation.

As a result, MSHA issued Wolf Run Mining, then an International Coal Group holding, a citation and order for failure to immediately notify the agency of the explosion, comply with the mine’s emergency evacuation and firefighting program and immediately contact the mine rescue team.

In an initial decision, administrative law judge Jerold Feldman affirmed the violations but dropped the negligence designations from high to moderate.

In removing the unwarrantable failure designation, he also reduced the penalties to the producer.

He also reasoned that the operator’s negligence in not immediately reporting the incident was mitigated by mine management’s wish to execute a rescue attempt and to not be barred from entering the mine.

Feldman also took into account the fact that the event occurred on January 2 – when MSHA offices were closed due to the New Year holiday – making it difficult to reach the needed personnel.

In an appeal of the decision, a two-member commission majority agreed with MSHA that the judge had erred because of a miscalculation of the time at which the mine operator’s duty to report commenced.

It also said that the judge treated the intentional nature of the operator’s failure to report as a mitigating factor; treated the fact that the explosion occurred on a federal holiday as a mitigating factor; and failed to consider the fact that when the operator finally attempted to report the explosion, it relied solely on an offsite management official who had limited knowledge of the explosion and limited information and resources available to him at home.

The panel re-assessed WRM with MSHA’s proposed penalties of $1500 and $13,000 for the two citations the agency had issued.

“Although eight years have passed, the memories of that tragic day have not diminished,” MSHA assistant secretary of labour Joseph Main said.

He also noted that the agency was “grateful” for the commission’s decision in this case that reaffirmed “the importance of immediate reporting of mine accidents”

“The operator’s intention to assist underground personnel during this emergency, while admirable, is exactly the type of conduct that the [Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977] and the secretary’s regulations are intended to address and avoid,” the commission majority said in its decision.

“The moments after a mining accident are difficult and frantic but crucial to an effective response is strict adherence to an operator’s emergency plan and to the relevant MSHA standards governing conduct after an accident occurs.”

The case was formally filed as Secretary of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration versus Wolf Run Mining Company, docket numbers WEVA 2007-600 and WEVA 2008-247.