Prosecutors investigating coal company

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the explosion at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, law enforcement sources said Friday.

The case originated in the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of West Virginia, which has prosecuted the coal company for criminal violations of safety standards in the past. A spokesman for that office referred questions to the Justice Department’s press office in Washington, which declined to comment.

Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said the company was aware that investigators were interviewing witnesses at the Upper Big Branch mine but was “not aware of the nature of their investigation.”

“We intend to cooperate in all phases of the accident investigation,” he said.

One of the law enforcement sources, who asked not to be identified because there was no authorization to comment, said that FBI investigators had interviewed more than a dozen Massey employees in the initial phase of the inquiry.

Massey paid one of the biggest fines in the history of mining after the Aracoma mine fire in West Virginia in 2006. In that case, Massey pleaded guilty to criminal charges and also paid civil fines related to federal Mine Safety and Health Administration regulatory violations.

In 2007, the operator of Massey’s White Buck mine in West Virginia was fined $50,000 for a criminal mine safety violation, and a shift foreman was given a year of probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of not performing safety examinations. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a felony complaint that the company had falsified records to indicate that pre-shift safety reviews had been conducted.

Twenty-nine men were killed in the massive April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine. Mine safety officials have suggested that a preventable buildup of explosive methane gas and coal dust was the likely cause. The mine had been cited for hundreds of safety violations in the 18 months before the accident,

After news of the criminal inquiry broke on Friday, Massey’s stock plunged 11%.

Also Friday, President Obama issued a statement saying his administration was taking steps to demand accountability for safety violations and to “strengthen mine safety so that all of our miners are protected.”

In addition to the Justice Department inquiry, the Labor Department is investigating the explosion, prompted in part by strong statements from Obama, who attended a memorial service for the miners and has called for renewed attention to worker safety.

At a congressional hearing this week, a Mine Safety and Health Administration official said that Massey appeared to take a “catch me if you can” attitude toward safety regulations and compliance.

Tony Oppegard, a mine safety advocate and former regulator who practices law in Kentucky, said prosecutors would look at whether Massey employees knew of hazardous conditions and decided not to fix them. Such conduct would be a criminal misdemeanor under federal mine laws.

Prosecutors also would likely check to see whether employees falsified records in which they are supposed to note any hazards in pre-shift reports or other reports filed during work hours. Falsifying such records is a felony.

tom.hamburger@latimes.com

Kim Geiger, David Zucchino and the Associated Press contributed to this report.