There’s breaking news in the ongoing criminal investigation into the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 miners in 2010. The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. reports that a mining manager has been charged with conspiracy. supervisor Gary May is charged with plotting “with others known and unknown” to provide advance warning of inspections, concealing violations, falsifying records, and taking steps to conceal actual work conditions. He is also charged with disabling a methane monitoring system a few months before the explosions.
May is the third person to be charged in the ongoing criminal investigation and is said to be cooperating with investigators. Ward reports that, “Next week, former Massey Energy security director Hughie Elbert Stover faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Irene Berger after being convicted of lying to investigators and trying to destroy evidence about Massey’s practice of warning underground workers of impending government inspections.”
At his Coal Tattoo blog, Ward offers more context about May and the charges against him. Ward, other industry observers, and other media indicate that the way the charges are structured would seem to indicate that the investigators are looking to upper levels of the organization. It would seem that there are more shoes to drop in this sad saga.
For ongoing coverage of Massey’s UBB mine disaster, see Coal Tattoo / Upper Big Branch Disaster and the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster archives at The Charleston Gazette.
Tags: disasters, mining, MSHA, Upper Big Branch Mine, West Virginia
