BECKLEY, W.Va. — The former superintendent of a southern West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers pleaded guilty today to a federal fraud charge.
Gary May of Bloomingrose, the highest-ranking Massey Energy official charged in connection with the blast, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 9.
May pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger in Beckley to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. The charge stems from his actions at the Upper Big Branch mine.
Prosecutors said May manipulated the mine ventilation system during inspections to fool safety officials and disabled a methane monitor on a cutting machine a few months before the explosion on April 5, 2010. It wasn't clear from court papers whether the device was ever fixed.
The blast was the worst U.S. mining disaster in 40 years.
Prosecutors have accused Massey of violating a host of safety laws out of a desire to put production and profits first.
Three investigations of the tragedy concluded that the company allowed highly explosive methane and coal dust to build up inside the mine, where it was ignited by a spark from an improperly maintained piece of cutting equipment. Clogged and broken water sprayers then allowed what could have been just a flare-up to become an epic blast, the investigations found.
A recent internal review by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration concluded that federal inspectors either missed problems or failed to examine areas where they existed in the 18 months before the blast. But the review found no evidence those failures caused it.
Last week, though, a team led by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued a report concluding that timely enforcement of existing regulations "would have lessened the chances of — and possibly could have prevented" the explosion.
Alpha Natural Resources of Bristol, Va., bought Massey and all its operations, including the Upper Big Branch mine, last summer.
