This will be in addition to the investigations by both state and
federal mining officials. The heart of the investigation will be
— and should be — why a mine with so many past violations
regarding venting methane gas and allowing combustible coal dust
to accumulate was allowed to remain open. Since new regulations
were put into place following the Sago mine disaster in 2006,
Massey Energy Co. — which operates Upper Big Branch — repeatedly
has appealed citations, thus allowing mines to stay open. While
MSHA officials say Upper Big Branch had reduced its number of
citations by 60 percent, officials noted the mine should have
received a warning letter in October concerning its potential
pattern of safety violations. However, a computer program that
screens for these patterns failed to include eight citations
that would have triggered the warning. It is not at all uncommon
for state and federal mine inspectors to hand out citations for
failures to abide by safety regulations. Many times the
infractions are relat