Aug 13 2010
Investigators from Massey Energy Company collaborated with the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training members, and U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officials, to conduct several tests on the methane monitors that were employed by the UBB Longwall at the time of the mine catastrophe on the 5th of April, in Montcoal WV. The verdict obtained from the tests was that the methane units were effective and were not impaired on the day of the mine mishap.
According to Shane Harvey, General Counsel and Vice President of Massey, the tests that were carried out in the weekend, thoroughly validated the claim that the machinery was not impaired or tampered with. The sensors were in good repair, competent enough to instantaneously close the longwall, if there was an ascent in the methane readings exceeding the safety limits.
Answering back to a report by the press which stated that plastic bags might have been positioned on the sensors prohibiting its functioning, Harvey affirms that the UBB monitors were clearly working according to MSHA requirements, and that there was no hindrance such as plastic bags to impede the operations on that fateful day. He stated that the MSHA representative was very much in the picture when the sensors were scrutinized after the mishap.
Company officials were also keeping the family members of the employees involved in the mishap up to date about the progression in the investigation and the evidences being found.
Massey’s Head Office in Richmond, along with other bases in West Virginia and Kentucky produce, the largest amount of coal in the Central Appalachian region, and is one among the S & P 500 index.
Source: http://www.masseyenergyco.com