Former Massey CEO Pleads Not Guilty to New Indictment in Mine Blast

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The former chief executive of Massey Energy Co. pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a revised federal indictment arising from a 2010 West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners.

The former chief executive, Donald Blankenship, entered his plea in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

The amended indictment, which was filed March 10, reduces the number of criminal counts to three from four. It combines charges that Blankenship conspired to violate mine safety laws and to defraud the U.S. government into one count.

He faces other two charges of violating federal securities laws by lying to shareholders and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about Massey’s safety practices.

Blankenship, who led Massey from 2000 to 2010, pleaded not guilty in November to initial charges that he tried to conceal hazards at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine before its April 5, 2010, explosion, and lied about Massey’s safety record.

The amended indictment said Blankenship conspired to falsify where dust samples required to be collected under federal mine health standards were taken, as part of an effort to hide problems from inspectors.

Blankenship has sought to have the criminal case dismissed, and alternatively to delay a trial scheduled to begin on April 20, according to court records.

Massey was acquired in 2011 by Alpha Natural Resources Inc for about $7 billion. Alpha Natural was not accused of wrongdoing. The now-closed Upper Big Branch mine was about 40 miles (64 km) south of Charleston, the state capital.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, lifted a sweeping gag order in the Blankenship case that had sealed court documents and barred participants from talking about it.

The case is U.S. v. Blankenship, U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, No. 14-cr-00244.

(Editing by Ian Simpson and Leslie Adler)