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The former chief executive of the company involved in the nation's worst coal mine disaster in 40 years, in which 29 men died in West Virginia in 2010, was charged on Thursday with widespread violations of safety rules and deceiving federal inspectors.
Donald L. Blankenship, who formerly ran the Massey Energy Company, was indicted on four criminal counts by a federal grand jury in the Upper Big Branch disaster near Montcoal, W.Va.
Mr. Blankenship was accused of looking away from hundreds of safety violations 'in order to produce more coal, avoid the costs of following safety laws, and make more money.'
The 43-page indictment handed up in Charleston, W.Va., the state capital, details how laws about ventilating coal dust and methane gas at the mine were ignored, staffing and tasks needed to improve safety were slashed, and officials responded to surprise visits by safety inspectors by tipping off miners underground using code words.
A massive explosion at the mine on April 5, 2010, which killed the men working 1,200 feet below the surface, was the result of safety violations that allowed coal dust and methane to ignite, according to a 2011 report by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The disaster, the deadliest in West Virginia since 1970, has left painful scars even in a state that has long accepted mining's toll on life and health, and which celebrates coal as part of its identity. As recently as the elections last week, candidates in House and Senate races boasted of how quickly they had arrived at the Upper Big Branch site four years ago.
Mr. Blankenship, who retired about eight months after the disaster, is well known in the state, where he has donated to conservative political candidates, even as victims' families have called for his prosecution. Through a lawyer, he maintained his innocence and said he would fight the charges. 'Don Blankenship has been a tireless advocate for mine safety,' the lawyer, William W. Taylor III, said in a statement. 'His outspoken criticism of powerful bureaucrats has earned this indictment. He will not yield to their effort to silence him. He will not be intimidated.'
Several investigations have found that Massey routinely ignored safety violations at the mine. The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration concluded in 2011 that the explosion was preventable and issued 369 citations. Alpha Natural Resources, which bought Massey in 2011, paid $209 million in criminal penalties to settle with the Department of Justice. Two subordinates of Mr. Blankenship, including a former superintendent of the Upper Big Branch, have pleaded guilty in criminal cases.
Mr. Blankenship faces a maximum of 31 years' imprisonment.
The charges hold him personally responsible for the hundreds of safety violations in 28 months leading up to the explosion. They included failing to ventilate coal dust and methane, which are highly explosive, and failing to water down equipment to prevent sparks that could ignite an explosion.
According to the indictment, Mr. Blankenship's aggressive enforcement of mining quotas left workers no time to build ventilation systems 'because constructing them diverted time from coal production.' He denied a request to build an air shaft in a mine where airflow was below the legal minimum, the indictment said. He also cut the number of miners focusing on safety in order to make the operation more profitable.
Mr. Blankenship was charged with authorizing a 'scheme' of warnings to miners underground when federal safety inspectors made surprise visits. By using 'code words and phrases,' word was passed by telephone from a guardhouse to a mine office to supervisors deep underground, who ordered miners 'to quickly cover up violations' before inspectors arrived, the indictment said.
Besides charges of conspiracy to violate safety laws and defrauding the federal government, the four-count indictment included a charge of securities fraud and a charge of making false statements to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
The president of the United Mine Workers of America, Cecil E. Roberts, hailed the indictment. 'The carnage that was a recurring nightmare at Massey mines during Blankenship's tenure at the head of that company was unmatched,' he said. 'No other company had even half as many fatalities during that time. No other company compared with Massey's record of health and safety violations during that time.'
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