W.Va. coal mine to pay historic $209M settlement in blast that killed 29 miners
By Brad Plumer,
WashPost
Published: December 6
The owner of the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia, where 29 men died in an explosion last year, has agreed to pay $209 million in civil and criminal penalties and promised to make major safety improvements to its mines, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The deal between the federal government and Alpha Natural Resources, which acquired the Upper Big Branch coal field when it bought out Massey Energy in June, is the largest settlement in a criminal investigation of a mine disaster in U.S. history, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Alpha has agreed to pay $46.5 million in restitution to the families of those who died — plus two co-workers who survived the accident — $1.5 million per family. The company will spend $80 million to boost safety in all of its underground mines and set up a $48 million fund for mining-safety and health research. Alpha Natural Resources also agreed to pay $34.8 million in fines and fees that Massey Energy owed to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
“Collectively, these requirements will set a new standard for what can and should be done to protect miners,” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said at a press conference Tuesday announcing the settlement. “My hope is Alpha’s adoption of the measures contained in this resolution will give the rest of the industry a strong push to follow suit.”
(More here.)
WashPost
Published: December 6
The owner of the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia, where 29 men died in an explosion last year, has agreed to pay $209 million in civil and criminal penalties and promised to make major safety improvements to its mines, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The deal between the federal government and Alpha Natural Resources, which acquired the Upper Big Branch coal field when it bought out Massey Energy in June, is the largest settlement in a criminal investigation of a mine disaster in U.S. history, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Alpha has agreed to pay $46.5 million in restitution to the families of those who died — plus two co-workers who survived the accident — $1.5 million per family. The company will spend $80 million to boost safety in all of its underground mines and set up a $48 million fund for mining-safety and health research. Alpha Natural Resources also agreed to pay $34.8 million in fines and fees that Massey Energy owed to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
“Collectively, these requirements will set a new standard for what can and should be done to protect miners,” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said at a press conference Tuesday announcing the settlement. “My hope is Alpha’s adoption of the measures contained in this resolution will give the rest of the industry a strong push to follow suit.”
(More here.)
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