Feds call off hearings in big mine disaster, which may have been result of water-spray malfunction

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 coal miners in April, making 2010 the industry's deadliest year in some time, continues to make news.

On Friday, the Labor Department announced that it had indefinitely postponed public hearings about the disaster at the request of the Justice Department, which said public hearings or release of current witness transcripts "poses a serious risk of hindering the criminal investigation into events at UBB."

And Howard Berkes of National Public Radio reported, citing "multiple sources familiar with the disaster investigation," that "Legally required water systems at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia were not functioning properly before the April 5 explosion." Berkes' online story includes a diagram and scenario for how the explosion might have happened.