Massey Energy Co has been caught with serious safety violations at another coal mine in West Virginia as per the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration on Thursday. The inspectors said that this could have caused another explosion.
They caught the company illegally cutting too deeply into the coal seam at its Seng Creek Powellton Mine located about 40 miles south of Charleston in Boone County. The coal was being cut with the ventilation curtains rolled up. These help flush away methane and coal dust which can ignite and explode.
The inspectors said that the foreman also admitted to skipping mandatory tests for explosive gases. The foreman who allowed mining without the ventilation curtains was fired.
On another note Massey Energy is upset that the Mine Safety and Health Administration is preventing one of the company's investigators from accessing the Montcoal West Virginia mine which was the site of the April 5, 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners.