EKB News

Friday, federal regulators warned 13 mining operations in seven states, including two owned by Massey Energy Co., to show improvement on safety or face stricter enforcement. MSHA officials say Massey's Upper Big Branch mine also meets the criteria for inclusion on the list that might qualify as having a pattern of serious violations, but actions against UBB and Massey subsidiary, Performance Coal Co., are on hold until the completion of an investigation into the April blast that killed 29 men. Virginia-based Massey says it will review the documents the agency used to formulate its list, discuss the violations with officials and take corrective action.

The 13 sites identified as potentially having a pattern of serious violations include four coal mines in Kentucky, three in West Virginia, two in Tennessee, and one each in Illinois, Alabama, Montana and Nevada.