The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) discovered 20 unreported accidents at the Upper Big Branch mine, where an explosion killed 29 miners in April, in West Virginia. MSHA is citing the mine’s owner, Massey Energy, for failing to report the accidents.

The accidents occurred between January 2008 and this year. MSHA discovered the accidents during its investigation of the April explosion.

The unreported incidents include four related to the April explosion: four miners were not able to return to work soon after. It is still unclear what caused the lost time.

Other unreported accidents appear serious too. “Other citations allege Massey failed to report a variety of accidents resulting in injuries, including one that ‘resulted in temporary total disability,’ and others that required miners to miss work, get stitches and even nurse a fracture,” according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the Charleston Gazette reports that Massey led the coal mining industry in fines and citations during the second quarter of 2010:

Massey was fined more than $4 million and cited for more than 1,200 violations by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration during the period from April through June, according to the company's filings.

No other coal producer was fined more than $1 million during the same period, according to an analysis of the SEC filings by firm SNL Energy. 

I’d castigate Massey here, but I’m growing tired of doing so. The company’s abysmal track record speaks for itself.

Photo courtesy of Talk News Radio, used under  a Creative Commons license.