Stover, 60, with the producer’s Performance Coal division, was indicted in February by a federal grand jury tasked with investigating the blast. It was the first criminal charge stemming from the incident.
According to Bloomberg, Stover is accused of lying to a Federal Bureau of Investigations agent as well as to a US Mine Safety and Health Administration investigator about claims he ordered UBB security guards to announce the presence of inspectors. He also allegedly ordered security-related documentation be disposed of in January.
Officials reportedly said in Stover’s indictment that federal regulators and the FBI had been looking at “allegations that advance notices of inspections had been given on a regular and continuing basis at Performance’s Upper Big Branch mine”. To do so is a violation of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, also known as the Mine Act.
“The investigation revealed that there were multiple radio channels that were used by the security guards at the Upper Big Branch,”Bloomberg noted of the claims made in the indictment documentation, adding that one channel was called the “security channel” while the other was referred to as the “Montcoal channel”
“Radio transmissions on the Montcoal channel could be heard by individuals working in the Upper Big Branch mine office,” officials said.
Stover is also accused of ordering someone to dispose of thousands of pages of documents related to security, including items that mentioned the president of inspectors on UBB property, according to the news service. Stover’s accusers said he was aware of the joint investigation at the time of the conduct.
Massey general counsel Shane Harvey told ILN Tuesday: "The company takes this matter very seriously and is committed to cooperating with the US Attorney’s office. The matter remains under review and the company has no further comment at this time."
The case has been filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia at Beckley. The case reference is US versus Stover, 11-cr-38.
