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More lawsuits arise from UBB explosion

THREE new lawsuits have reportedly been filed against Upper Big Branch mine owner Massey Energy n...

Donna Schmidt
More lawsuits arise from UBB explosion

According to the Associated Press, the suits were brought by the families of Joe Marcum and Adam Morgan, both of whom died in the explosion April 5 last year. The third is by Stanley Stewart, a survivor of the incident.

All were filed this week in Boone County Circuit Court and name Massey Energy as well as subsidiaries Massey Coal Services and Performance Coal as defendants.

In an annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the producer said it had so far reached settlements with seven families. Four of those have been finalized and have received judicial approval.

The company is still facing two wrongful death lawsuits, it noted in the report, but did not indicate the identities of the families in those cases. Massey also remains at the center of both criminal and civil investigations related to the UBB blast.

Massey added in the SEC filing that it would accommodate the ongoing investigations by keeping the operation closed, though it could not predict for how long.

“It is also possible that we may decide or be required by regulators to permanently close the UBB mine,” the company said.

“We self-insure the underground mining equipment, including the longwalls at the UBB mine, [and] we do not currently carry business interruption insurance for the UBB mine.”

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