Report: Mine owner to blame for blast

CHARLESTON, W.Va., May 19 (UPI) -- A state report on a 2010 coal mine disaster in West Virginia blames the mine owner, saying it built a culture in which wrongdoing became acceptable.

An independent team of investigators appointed by the former West Virginia governor, Joe Manchin, issued their report Thursday on the National Technology Transfer Center Web site.

The Upper Big Branch report, subtitled "A failure of basic coal mine safety practices," echoed preliminary findings by federal officials that the blast could have been prevented if Massey Energy had observed minimal safety standards.

The report detailed what it called a pattern of negligence that led to the deaths of 29 miners on April 5, 2010, the worst U.S. mining disaster in 40 years.

"A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coalfields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk-taking," the report said.

The report cited poor ventilation, non-functioning safety mechanisms on equipment, and coal dust, which in violation of industry regulations had been allowed to accumulate, "behaving like a line of gunpowder carrying the blast forward in multiple directions."

A number of individuals subpoenaed by the State of West Virginia during the examination of the disaster declined to be interviewed by investigators, invoking their Fifth Amendment rights, the report said.