Newly disclosed records show U.S. Labor Department officials stopped independent investigators from questioning how federal regulators handled methane leaks from the floor of the Upper Big Branch mine several times before last year’s disaster. In April 2010, 29 men died …
Federal investigators will soon release their final report on the 2010 explosion that killed 29 men at West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch coal mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration says it will brief the victims’ families and the media …
Two Nevadans were killed in a mining accident partly because someone wedged a broom handle against a reset button to bypass an alarm that would have shut down the system, federal safety investigators said. The Mine Safety and Health Administration …
The number of mine injuries has been cut in the five months since Alpha Natural Resources bought Massey Energy, which had owned the coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year, Alpha’s CEO said Thursday. “The year-to-date …
The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s continuing crackdown on the coal industry hasn’t deterred the industry’s growth, director Joe Main said Friday. From April 2010 to June 2011, the number of underground mining employees grew by about 11 percent, …
Two West Virginia coal mines have been warned they could be labeled pattern violators for failing to report accidents. The Mine Safety and Health Administration cited Inman Energy’s Randolph Mine and Independence Coal Co.’s Justice No. 1 Mine. Both Boone …
Federal regulators are publishing a proposed rule this week that would require U.S. underground mines to install equipment which automatically shuts down mobile machinery when people get too close. The Mine Safety and Health Administration plans to publish the rule …
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration is offering grants to states and nonprofits to develop training for emergency preparedness and prevention in underground mines. The agency announced Wednesday that up to 20 grants from the Brookwood-Sago grants program could …
The company that owned the coal mine where 29 miners died in the worst U.S. mining disaster in four decades concluded the explosion was the result of unpreventable natural gas buildup and not coal dust, contradicting the findings of an …