In an update for the victims’ families and media on Wednesday, the agency specifically looked at worn longwall shearer head bits and missing operational shearer sprayers. Investigators continue to reject owner Massey Energy’s opinion that a large burst of gas from a crack in the floor emerged suddenly and overtook alarms and preventive safeguards in place at the mine.
MSHA administrator for coal mine safety and health Kevin Stricklin was asked by several media outlets on Wednesday if the agency felt the mine had been operated in an unsafe manner.
While Stricklin did not directly place Massey at fault, he did state one opinion on which the agency remains firm.
“We’ve always taken a position that all explosions are preventable,” he said, noting that both the water sprays and rock dusting appeared to be inadequate.
Stricklin also said investigators were still looking at the possibility that someone working at the longwall powered down the longwall on the initial ignition, and may have simultaneously shut off the shearer’s water supply.
"We do not think [shutting off the water sprays] would be a good idea where an ignition is occurring," he said at the conference, but added that it might have been the company’s normal procedure.
As of January 18, MSHA had conducted 261 interviews, and 18 individuals it had called to provide testimony had exercised their Fifth Amendment rights.
The agency reminded both family members and media that the investigation was not yet complete, with much more territory in the underground investigation still to be covered as well as the completion of follow-up interviews.
MSHA’s final report is due in about two to three months, and a federal criminal investigation is ongoing.
While Massey did not make a formal public statement Wednesday afternoon, Bloomberg quoted its general counsel Shane Harvey as saying that the company’s findings differed from those of MSHA’s investigators.
“We likewise do not believe that coal dust played a meaningful role in the explosion,” he said, noting that sprays may have been damaged in the blast and would not have suppressed a spark or fire at the shearer.
As it wraps up interviews for its investigation into the blast, MSHA announced late last week that it had halted plans for now to conduct public hearings on the event or release witness testimony transcripts.
“The Department of Justice requested this week that the Mine Safety and Health Administration postpone any plans,” solicitor of labor M Patricia Smith said.
“A letter from R Booth Goodwin II, the US attorney with the Southern District of West Virginia, explain[ed] that any public disclosure at this time ‘poses a serious risk of hindering the criminal investigation into events at UBB’.”
Smith noted that MSHA had exercised caution from the beginning of its investigation that the DoJ might opt to conduct its own investigation.
“We have no intention of jeopardizing those efforts; therefore, we’ve agreed to honor that department’s request,” she said.
“We remain committed to holding public hearings and making the transcripts available once we are assured by the criminal prosecutors that doing so will not impede their ability to bring any wrongdoers to justice.”
