West Virginia mine explosion

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West Virginia Coal Mine Settles for $210M in Disaster

Agreement allows for individual criminal prosecutions

(Newser) - The owner of a West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 men will pay nearly $210 million in a historic settlement arising from the worst US coal mining disaster in decades. An attorney with knowledge of the Upper Big Branch settlement provided details to the AP. The agreement...

Mine Regulators Under FBI Investigation

Mine Safety and Health officials may have been bribed

(Newser) - The FBI has launched a criminal investigation of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in connection with the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, and the agency is looking into allegations regulators took bribes from Massey Energy, sources tell NPR . Massey, which owned the mine, is also under investigation for criminal...

Obama Eulogizes W.Va. Miners

In praising 29 men who died in explosion, president criticizes safety sustem

(Newser) - President Obama paid tribute this afternoon to the miners who died in the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, implicitly criticizing the mine-safety system as he celebrated the lives of the 29 men who perished, reports the Hill . "How can we fail them?" he asked....

Fed Mine Safety Agency Riddled With Problems

'Miners' lives are in the crosshairs'

(Newser) - Untrained recruits perform mine inspections, the majority of veteran inspectors skip out on mandatory retraining, and a backlog of appeals is growing at the troubled federal mine safety agency. A government audit released just days before this week's deadly West Virginia mine explosion found lax enforcement rampant in the Mining...

25 Dead in West Virginia Mine Explosion

Blast is worst mine disaster in US in 25 years

(Newser) - At least 25 coal miners were killed and 4 still missing in a West Virginia explosion that marked the worst US mine disaster since 1984. Some 21 were injured in the late afternoon explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine, 30 miles south of Charleston, reports AP . The mine...

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