Massey Mine Blast Called ‘Man-Made'; Report Says Explosion Was Preventable

The explosion at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch Mine that left 29 miners dead in April 2010 was “man-made” and preventable had the company “followed basic, well-tested and historically proven safety procedures,” according to a report released May 19 by J. Davitt McAteer, chairman of the West Virginia Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel.

The 126-page report describes a company that openly flouted safety standards and a federal agency—the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)—that did not adequately enforce safety regulations as much of the cause of the nation’s worst mining disaster in nearly four decades (69 DLR A-14, 4/13/10