CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal inspectors have found more than 60 serious safety violations at Massey Energy operations since the explosion that killed 29 miners.
Inspectors visited more than 30 underground Massey coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia after the April 5 blast, according to records from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency has tentatively blamed preventable accumulations of explosive methane gas and coal dust for the disaster.
Investigators were reviewing records from the site of the blast and waiting for dangerous gases to be ventilated before going underground at the Upper Big Branch mine. It will probably be another week until investigators can safely go in, said MSHA Administrator Kevin Stricklin.
To tally violations at other Massey sites, The Associated Press checked inspection records for all of the company’s approximately 70 U.S. underground coal mines from April 5 through Thursday.
Meanwhile, Marlene Griffith, the widow of William Griffith, accuses the company of a history of safety violations that amount to negligence in the first wrongful-death lawsuit over the explosion, filed Thursday.
