NYT editorial: Closer to the Truth About Big Branch

Federal investigators have finally delivered a get-tough message to the coal industry with the indictment of Hughie Stover, the security chief at the Upper Big Branch Mine where 29 men perished last April. Mr. Stover is accused of lying to investigators and ordering the destruction of records as federal agents sought to get to the root causes of the deadliest mine disaster in 40 years.

We applaud the determination of United States Attorney R. Booth Goodwin II to press the inquiry as “too important to tolerate any attempt to hinder it.” For too long industry has dismissed mining tragedies as the cost of doing business — while regulators have enabled even the worst operators. Before the explosion, Upper Big Branch was the site of hundreds of grossly habitual safety violations that, at best, drew slapped-wrist penalties.

Technical investigations of the blast are under way amid suspicions that inadequate control over coal dust and methane was a factor. At the core of the indictment is the widespread industry practice of spreading sotto voce warnings of the arrival of federal mine investigators so management can cover up potential violations.

Mr. Stover denied the tip-offs were a practice at Upper Big Branch. The indictment describes a surreptitious phone warning system and describes how documents were destroyed to hinder the postblast inquiry.

(More here.)