Source: W.Va. Mine Disaster Yields $210M Agreement

LAWRENCE MESSINA

BEAVER, W.Va. (AP) — The new owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men were killed in an explosion agreed Tuesday to pay a record $210 million in penalties over what the government called an "entirely preventable" tragedy caused by the pursuit of profits ahead of safety.

It is the biggest settlement ever reached in a U.S. mining disaster, and the money will go to compensate grieving families, bankroll cutting-edge safety improvements and pay for years of violations.

Under the deal, Alpha Natural Resources — which acquired the mine's owner, Massey Energy, earlier this year — will not be charged with any crimes in the April 2010 blast at the Upper Big Branch mine as long as the company abides by the settlement, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said. But the agreement does not prevent individual employees from being prosecuted.

"No individuals are off the hook," Goodwin said, adding that federal prosecutors are still investigating.

Hours after the settlement was announced, federal regulators released a final report detailing 369 safety violations at the mine, including 12 that it said contributed to the blast. Fines related to those violations account for $10.8 million of the settlement, and the company is required to pay further fines for violations dating back several years.

In a private meeting with the families of the fallen miners in Beaver, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the settlement "can go a long way toward changing a safety culture that was clearly broken at Massey's mines" and pledged the agency's cooperation with ongoing criminal investigations.

MSHA labeled nine of the contributing violations at the Upper Big Branch mine near Montcoal flagrant, the most serious designation. The flagrant violations include illegal warnings to miners underground that were on site and failure to conduct proper safety inspections.

MSHA has long said Massey Energy allowed dangerous accumulations of highly explosive methane gas and coal dust and blamed worn and broken cutting equipment for creating the spark that ignited that fuel. Broken water sprayers that could have contained a small flare-up didn't work, allowing a chain reaction of blasts to rip through miles of underground tunnels and kill men instantly.