Massey accuses mine safety agency of undermining investigation into deadly blast

Massey Energy on Thursday charged federal mine safety officials with undermining the investigation into a deadly explosion in West Virginia earlier this year.

The Virginia-based coal giant claims evidence might literally have been trampled when political appointees at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) toured the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine this week.  

"By conducting a tour of an accident scene before proper investigatory protocols have been complete, MSHA continues to undermine the integrity of the data collected from UBB," Don Blankenship, Massey's CEO, said in a statement. 

Massey attorney Shane Harvey added that the visitors "are literally stepping on potential evidence before it has been photographed, mapped or preserved." 

"This hampers the ability of investigators to identify key evidentiary facts that can point to the exact cause of the UBB accident," Harvey said.

Twenty-nine miners were killed, and another nearly so, when the Massey-owned Upper Big Branch mine exploded in April. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the blast, but experts suspect methane gas and accumulated coal dust contributed. 

Massey, which has long had a reputation for putting coal production above worker safety, had racked up dozens of safety violations related to ventilation and coal dust at the UBB mine in the months prior to the accident. Massey has blamed MSHA for forcing the company to alter its vent system, filing a lawsuit against the agency last month.