Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Federal Regulators Close Pike County Mine
KENTUCKY...
Massey Energy Co. says it's idling an eastern Kentucky mine that federal regulators had sought to close as a serial violator of safety laws.
Virginia-based Massey announced the closure of the Freedom Energy Mine with headquarters in Belfry in Pike County on Wednesday.
Massey Energy Co. says it's idling an eastern Kentucky mine that federal regulators had sought to close as a serial violator of safety laws.
Virginia-based Massey announced the closure of the Freedom Energy Mine with headquarters in Belfry in Pike County on Wednesday.The U.S. Department of Labor had filed an unprecedented lawsuit seeking to close the troubled mine Nov. 3. The action was the agency's first attempt to obtain an injunction to protect coal miners.
Massey says the mine was safe, but decades of mining left vast workings that were difficult to maintain. Some employees will remain to recover equipment, but others will shift to other mines.
The Obama administration has targeted problem mines since the April 5 explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:55 PM 
