BECKLEY, W.Va. — Massey Energy Co. recklessly ignored safety and allowed dangerous conditions to build inside a West Virginia mine until a blast last year killed 29 men in the deadliest U.S. coal accident since 1970, according to an independent report released Thursday.
The report by a former top federal mine regulator, commissioned by the state’s then-governor, said Massey could have prevented the April 5, 2010, disaster with standard safety practices, including better ventilation to reduce potentially explosive levels of gas and dust in the tunnels.
“A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coalfields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk-taking,” the study concluded.
It also cast blame on state and federal regulators for failing to adequately enforce safety laws at the sprawling Upper Big Branch mine.
The report was released to members of the victims’ families during a private briefing. Several told The Associated Press that its findings did not surprise them because they knew the mine wasn’t safe.
“They knew the men were entering a dangerous mine, that this could have happened at any time, and they still continued to put the men at risk,” said Clay Mullins, whose brother Rex died in the explosion.
Massey disputed the report, saying the explosion was sparked by an uncontrollable inundation of natural gas deep inside the mine.
“Our experts feel confident that coal dust did not play an important role,” Shane Harvey, Massey’s general counsel, said in a statement.
