The chief of security at the Massey Energy Co. mine where an explosion killed 29 miners last April was charged Monday with lying to investigators and ordering the destruction of thousands of security-related documents.
The criminal indictment by a federal grand jury probing the blast is the first issued in connection with the worst U.S. coal-mining disaster in 40 years.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Charleston said the investigation was ongoing and declined to comment on whether more indictments could be brought in connection with the explosion at the W.Va. mine.
The indictment, on two felony counts, alleges that Hughie Elbert Stover, 60, of Clear Fork, W. Va., lied to a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent when denying that security guards alerted workers that federal safety inspectors were on site. According to the indictment, Mr. Stover trained guards to provide advance notice of inspectors, which is a crime under federal law, by announcing the presence of a Mine Safety and Health Administrator inspector over a radio channel at the mine.
The second indictment charges that Mr. Stover directed another person in January to destroy thousands of pages of documents in a trash compactor near the mine's security gate.
"The company takes this matter very seriously and is committed to cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's office," said Massey general counsel Shane Harvey in a statement.
Mr. Harvey said Massey notified the U.S. Attorney's office "within hours of learning that documents had been disposed of and took immediate steps to recover documents and turn them over to the U.S. Attorney's office." The company had no further comment at this time, he said.
Mr. Stover was arrested at his home Monday, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Phone calls to his house were not answered.
Last April, a massive explosion tore through more than two miles of Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., killing 29 men. The Justice Department has been conducting a criminal probe while federal and state safety officials investigate the cause of the accident.
Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, said the conduct of Mr. Stover alleged in the indictments "threatens our effort to find out what happened at Upper Big Branch." Investigators said advance notice of federal inspectors could prompt workers to make changes or clean up an area. "In effect, you're inspecting something that is a false operation," said J. Davitt McAteer, a former MSHA official in the Clinton Administration who was appointed by former W.Va. Gov. Joe Manchin to investigate the accident.
In January, Richmond, Va.-based Massey agreed to be acquired by Alpha Natural Resources Inc., of Abingdon, Va., in a deal valued at $7.1 billion.
Source: http://online.wsj.com
The criminal indictment by a federal grand jury probing the blast is the first issued in connection with the worst U.S. coal-mining disaster in 40 years.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Charleston said the investigation was ongoing and declined to comment on whether more indictments could be brought in connection with the explosion at the W.Va. mine.
The indictment, on two felony counts, alleges that Hughie Elbert Stover, 60, of Clear Fork, W. Va., lied to a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent when denying that security guards alerted workers that federal safety inspectors were on site. According to the indictment, Mr. Stover trained guards to provide advance notice of inspectors, which is a crime under federal law, by announcing the presence of a Mine Safety and Health Administrator inspector over a radio channel at the mine.
The second indictment charges that Mr. Stover directed another person in January to destroy thousands of pages of documents in a trash compactor near the mine's security gate.
"The company takes this matter very seriously and is committed to cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's office," said Massey general counsel Shane Harvey in a statement.
Mr. Harvey said Massey notified the U.S. Attorney's office "within hours of learning that documents had been disposed of and took immediate steps to recover documents and turn them over to the U.S. Attorney's office." The company had no further comment at this time, he said.
Mr. Stover was arrested at his home Monday, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Phone calls to his house were not answered.
Last April, a massive explosion tore through more than two miles of Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., killing 29 men. The Justice Department has been conducting a criminal probe while federal and state safety officials investigate the cause of the accident.
Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, said the conduct of Mr. Stover alleged in the indictments "threatens our effort to find out what happened at Upper Big Branch." Investigators said advance notice of federal inspectors could prompt workers to make changes or clean up an area. "In effect, you're inspecting something that is a false operation," said J. Davitt McAteer, a former MSHA official in the Clinton Administration who was appointed by former W.Va. Gov. Joe Manchin to investigate the accident.
In January, Richmond, Va.-based Massey agreed to be acquired by Alpha Natural Resources Inc., of Abingdon, Va., in a deal valued at $7.1 billion.
Source: http://online.wsj.com
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