May 5, 2010
UBB Investigation Expanding; Anonymous Tip Line Established
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) – An anonymous tip line has been established to gather information and further advance the investigation into the April 5, 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion in Raleigh County, WV that killed 29 miners.
The U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the formation of a supplemental investigation group which will augment the efforts of the agency’s accident investigation team.
This investigation group will be led by former MSHA employee Robert Phillips, a 27-year veteran of the agency and, prior to his recent retirement, manager of the Coal Mine Safety and Health District Office in Vincennes, Ind.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis called for this additional investigation group to provide a safe, confidential venue for the general public, family members of the victims and miners to speak freely to MSHA investigators about the mine explosion without fear of retaliation or the need to reveal their identities.
"We need to use every available tool to establish the cause of this tragedy that took 29 coal miners' lives," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "The work of this special team will be part of MSHA's investigative process, and it will give family members and others the opportunity to share information they might otherwise not feel comfortable passing along."
The additional MSHA investigation group will monitor and respond to an anonymous tip line that victims' relatives and members of the general public can use to convey information that may be relevant to the accident investigation. The phone number is 877-827-3966.
Massey Energy’s Lead Independent Director, Admiral B.R. Inman, on May 4 sent a letter to CTW Investment Group, which has waged a campaign for more responsiveness to shareholders. Massey Energy shareholders hold their annual meeting May 18.
Admiral Inman explained that Richard Gabrys, former Vice Chairman of Deloitte & Touche LLC , will chair the corporations’ track record on safety, facts related to the UBB tragedy and the related investigation by various agencies, including the FBI. “We look forward to an initial report at our Annual Meeting on May 18, 2010, if there are significant results to report from fifteen days of examination.”
CTW leads a voting bloc to withhold 2010 Director’s slate votes from Gabrys, which, Inman wrote, if successful “would undoubtedly substantially disrupt the Board’s continuing effort to be responsive to shareholder concerns.”
Inman, however, has now acknowledged the obvious to shareholders. On April 30, the company issued a release denying knowledge of criminal wrongdoing , inferring that “relevant law enforcement agencies” would naturally investigate the UBB tragedy.
Contradicting the Massey Energy response that “it is not uncommon” for relevant law enforcement agencies to be involved, Tony Oppegard, a former senior official of MSHA and a former mine safety prosecutor in Kentucky, told NPR that FBI involvement in a mine disaster is “extremely rare. I’ve never heard of it before.”
Link to STATEMENT of Joseph Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor, April 27, 2010: http://www.msha.gov/Media/CONGRESS/2010/20100427JoeMainTestimony.pdf
Link to full committee hearing: http://help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=1c73dd04-5056-9502-5d66-5b82b85e591d
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UBB Investigation Expanding; Anonymous Tip Line Established
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Charleston, WV (HNN) – An anonymous tip line has been established to gather information and further advance the investigation into the April 5, 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion in Raleigh County, WV that killed 29 miners.
The U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the formation of a supplemental investigation group which will augment the efforts of the agency’s accident investigation team.
This investigation group will be led by former MSHA employee Robert Phillips, a 27-year veteran of the agency and, prior to his recent retirement, manager of the Coal Mine Safety and Health District Office in Vincennes, Ind.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis called for this additional investigation group to provide a safe, confidential venue for the general public, family members of the victims and miners to speak freely to MSHA investigators about the mine explosion without fear of retaliation or the need to reveal their identities.
"We need to use every available tool to establish the cause of this tragedy that took 29 coal miners' lives," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "The work of this special team will be part of MSHA's investigative process, and it will give family members and others the opportunity to share information they might otherwise not feel comfortable passing along."
The additional MSHA investigation group will monitor and respond to an anonymous tip line that victims' relatives and members of the general public can use to convey information that may be relevant to the accident investigation. The phone number is 877-827-3966.
Massey Energy’s Lead Independent Director, Admiral B.R. Inman, on May 4 sent a letter to CTW Investment Group, which has waged a campaign for more responsiveness to shareholders. Massey Energy shareholders hold their annual meeting May 18.
Admiral Inman explained that Richard Gabrys, former Vice Chairman of Deloitte & Touche LLC , will chair the corporations’ track record on safety, facts related to the UBB tragedy and the related investigation by various agencies, including the FBI. “We look forward to an initial report at our Annual Meeting on May 18, 2010, if there are significant results to report from fifteen days of examination.”
CTW leads a voting bloc to withhold 2010 Director’s slate votes from Gabrys, which, Inman wrote, if successful “would undoubtedly substantially disrupt the Board’s continuing effort to be responsive to shareholder concerns.”
Inman, however, has now acknowledged the obvious to shareholders. On April 30, the company issued a release denying knowledge of criminal wrongdoing , inferring that “relevant law enforcement agencies” would naturally investigate the UBB tragedy.
Contradicting the Massey Energy response that “it is not uncommon” for relevant law enforcement agencies to be involved, Tony Oppegard, a former senior official of MSHA and a former mine safety prosecutor in Kentucky, told NPR that FBI involvement in a mine disaster is “extremely rare. I’ve never heard of it before.”
Link to STATEMENT of Joseph Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor, April 27, 2010: http://www.msha.gov/Media/CONGRESS/2010/20100427JoeMainTestimony.pdf
Link to full committee hearing: http://help.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=1c73dd04-5056-9502-5d66-5b82b85e591d
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
