JULIAN, W.Va., July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Massey Energy
Company (NYSE: MEE) today released the following statement in
response to Cecil Roberts with the
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) and political appointees from
the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) touring sections
of the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine before important evidentiary
preservation procedures such as photography and mapping have begun:
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"It is unheard of for MSHA to parade non-technical political
operatives through critical areas of the UBB mine without first
having key pieces of evidence in these sections properly secured,"
said Shane Harvey, General Counsel
for Massey Energy. "Individuals are literally stepping on potential
evidence before it has been photographed, mapped or preserved.
This hampers the ability of investigators to identify key
evidentiary facts that can point to the exact cause of the UBB
accident."
"Having the leader of the United Mine Workers, whose agenda and
rush to judgment desires are well known, tour the mine as nothing
more than a gawker before evidence is protected interferes with an
investigation that should be based on facts and science."
"By conducting a tour of an accident scene before proper
investigatory protocols have been complete, MSHA continues to
undermine the integrity of the data collected from UBB," said
Don Blankenship, Chairman and CEO of
Massey Energy. "Once evidence in key sections of the mine has been
documented and preserved, I am looking forward to going underground
with investigators. Our goal all along has been to understand
what happened at UBB and learn from it so it never happens
again."
Massey Energy Company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, with operations in
West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, is the largest coal producer in
Central Appalachia and is included
in the S&P 500 Index.
SOURCE Massey Energy Company