Massey Security Chief at West Virginia Mine Charged in Probe

The head of security at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine was arrested Monday on charges he impeded investigators and lied to them as they probed an explosion at the West Virginia mine that killed 29 workers.

Hughie Stover, 60, was chief of security at the mine and was accused of ordering an unidentified person to dispose of thousands of pages of security-related documents last month by dumping them into a trash compactor, according to the indictment.

He was also charged with lying to investigators who were looking into allegations that it was a routine practice to alert mine personnel over radios at the Upper Big Branch when safety inspectors arrived, according to the indictment.

Federal law prohibits anyone from providing advance notice of a Mine Safety and Health Administration inspection. Stover was accused of lying about ordering security guards to alert mine personnel when inspectors arrived, the indictment said.

“The conduct charged by the grand jury — obstruction of justice and false statements to federal investigators — threatens our effort to find out what happened at Upper Big Branch,” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said in a statement.

The indictment is the first public charge related to the April 2010 explosion, the deadliest coal mining disaster in the United States in 40 years. Massey Energy has since agreed to be acquired by Alpha Natural Resources Inc.

Stover made an initial appearance and was released on bond, according to court records. An attorney for Stover, William Wilmoth, was not immediately available for comment.

In a statement on the Stover Indictment, Shane Harvey, Massey’s General Counsel said: “The company takes this matter very seriously and is committed to cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“Indeed, the company notified the U.S. Attorney’s office within hours of learning that documents had been disposed of and took immediate steps to recover documents and turn them over to the U.S. Attorney’s office.”

Harvey said the matter remained under review and Massey had no further comment.

Shares in both Massey Energy and Alpha Resources were down over 2 pct in afternoon trading, while most coal-related shares were flat.

The criminal case is USA v. Hughie Elbert Stover, No. 11-cr-00038 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington and Steve James in New York, editing by Jim Marshall)