Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield, widows of two miners killed in a Massey Energy coal mine in January 2006, urged U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver to reject the plea deal being offered to Massey subsidiary Aracoma Coal Co. The plea deal would impose 10 criminal counts, including one felony, and $2.5 million in fines on Aracoma but would not allow federal prosecutors to pursue charges against any Massey employees.
"Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to pursue charges against parent company Massey or any of its officers or agents," writes Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette. "They also agreed that the government 'does not have evidence suggesting that Massey knew, approved or acquiesced in, Aracoma's failure to maintain true and accurate records of escapeway drills.'" Many including Bragg and Hatfield feel Massey employees deserve much of the blame for the deaths.
Aracoma "entered its plea Wednesday, admitting to not providing a proper escape tunnel out of the underground mine, to not conducting required evacuation drills, and to faking a record book so it appeared the drills had been done," Ward reports. Falsification of the evacuation drill record book is the only sort of violation that can draw felony charges under mine safety laws. (Read more) We first reported the settlement in the following blog item.
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