MSHA moves to shut Massey mine as scofflaw; two grand juries probing Big Branch disaster

For the first time, the Department of Labor has asked a federal judge to immediately shut down a coal mine in the interest of protecting its workers. "In filing for a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court, the government cites persistently dangerous conditions in Massey Energy's Freedom Energy Mine No. 1 in Pike County," Howard Berkes and Robert Benincasa of National Public Radio report. "The action — the toughest enforcement action available to federal regulators — would shut down the mine until safety hazards are addressed and Massey Energy demonstrates it can operate the mine safely." Department of Labor Solicitor General M. Patricia Smith said to Dori Hjalmarson of the Lexington Herald-Leader,  "You can expect more of these on other mines." (Read more)

The agency has had the power to take mining companies to federal court for persistent safety violations since the passage of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 33 years ago, but Wednesday's move was the first time the agency had used the "injunctive relief" section of the law. "The move is viewed by mine safety experts as one response to the deadly explosion in April at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia," the reporters write. Lexington attorney and mine-safety expert Tony Oppegard said to Hjalmarson, "Why now? I would say because when 29 miners were killed in the Massey disaster, that sent shockwaves through MSHA and the mining industry."

Two federal grand juries are investigating the big Branch disaster, Bloomberg News reports. One in Beckley is probing the disaster itself, and one in Charleston is "investigating allegations that some mine inspectors may have accepted bribes from Massey employees so that the company's mines could receive preferential treatment when being inspected," according to an unnamed source. A Massey spokesman didn't immediately returna  call seeking comment. (Read more) UPDATE, Nov. 6: Daniel Malloy and Dennis B. Roddy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that the probe "does not include a probe into whether Massey Energy employees bribed mine inspectors, the region's prosecutor said Friday." (Read more)

The non-union Freedom Energy mine, which employs about 130 miners and was cited for safety violations more than 700 times this year alone and ordered to close 55 times, "has a high risk level for a fatal accident . . . on any given day" James Poynter, an assistant district manager at the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration, said in federal court documents. Massey said in a statement that Freedom "has struggled to comply with newer MSHA standards" because it's an older and larger mine, but "Massey does not believe the mine is unsafe." (Read more)