Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Cause of Deadly West Virginia Factory Blast Still Uncertain
Jan 27 2011 // The U.S. Chemical Safety Board believes either metal shavings or dust were the source of an explosion that killed three men in a West Virginia factory, but the investigator in charge said his team has yet to determine...
Equipment, Coal Dust Caused West Virginia Mine Blast: Probe
Jan 20 2011 // Federal investigators said Wednesday a small fire caused by a methane or natural gas leak likely set off a massive blast of coal dust that killed 29 miners at Massey Energy’s coal mine in West Virginia last...
Oh, Deer! West Virginia Herd Costing Insurers $44 Million a Year
Jan 13 2011 // West Virginia deer are causing excessive damage across the state and the Division of Natural Resources’ plan to manage the herd is deficient in addressing the problem, says a legislative audit released this...
West Virginia Judge Approves DuPont $70 Million Pollution Settlement
Jan 7 2011 // A pollution case involving a former zinc-smelter site in West Virginia has been resolved with DuPont agreeing to pay $70 million plus fund a medical monitoring program for area residents. DuPont and lawyers representing...
2010 Was U.S. Coal Industry’s Deadliest Since 1992
Jan 4 2011 // The U.S. coal industry had its deadliest year in nearly two decades in 2010, with much of the death toll stemming from a single explosion. As of last week, 48 miners had died in the nation’s 1,500 coal mines over the...
Inspections Reducing Mine Safety Violations: U.S. Official
Dec 28 2010 // Conducting special inspections to crack down on mines with poor safety records appears to be working, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said last week. The agency said it issued 250 citations and orders...
Insurer, Agent Help Rebuild West Virginia Fire Station
Dec 13 2010 // Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department is getting $10,000 from State Farm Insurance to help replace a fire station and three fire trucks destroyed in a blaze. The insurance company announced Friday it would donate the money...
West Virginia Jury Finds Official Defamed Employee Over Internet
Dec 3 2010 // A former Jefferson County employee has won a lawsuit that accused a county commissioner of defaming him with an Internet posting. Media outlets report that the jury ordered County Commissioner Patsy Noland to pay George...
Massey Shuts Kentucky Mine; Cites Danger in West Virginia
Dec 3 2010 // Massey Energy Co. has shut down a Kentucky coal mine that federal regulators had cited for safety violations and said another of its mines in West Virginia was in danger of collapse following heavy rains. The mining...
Massey CEO to Testify About Deadly West Virginia Mine Blast
Dec 2 2010 // Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship is expected to testify Dec. 14 in the probe of an April explosion that killed 29 men in West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine. The state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and...
DuPont Offers $70 Million to Settle West Virginia Pollution Case
Nov 29 2010 // Chemical company DuPont last week offered to pay $70 million and spend millions more on medical monitoring for the next 30 years to end a legal battle over a toxic exposure case it lost in West Virginia. The proposal drew...
Judge Upholds West Virginia Mine Accident Reporting Rule
Nov 29 2010 // A Kanawha County Circuit Court judge has upheld a state law giving coal mine operators 15 minutes to tell regulators about fires and other serious accidents. Judge Tod Kaufman’s ruling came in a case involving...
Reports on 2 West Virginia Chemical Plant Incidents Delayed
Nov 29 2010 // Reports on a federal board’s investigations of fatal incidents at two West Virginia chemical plants won’t be released until next year. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating a 2008 explosion at Bayer...
Is Gas Drilling Causing West Virginia Earthquakes?
Nov 24 2010 // Officials say there’s no clear explanation for what may have prompted several earthquakes near Frametown earlier this year. Some have speculated that the cluster of small earthquakes was linked to local gas...
DuPont Worried About Publicity in West Virginia Zinc-Smelting Case
Nov 23 2010 // DuPont will likely seek to sequester jurors in a 2011 trial that could determine whether it must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to some 8,500 West Virginians who won a toxic-exposure case three years...
Work-Related Deaths Decline in West Virginia
Nov 19 2010 // Work-related deaths in West Virginia have fallen to their lowest level since 2002. Preliminary figures released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show 41 workers suffered fatal on-the-job injuries in 2009,...
Judges’ Mediation of Massey Pollution Case Fails in West Virginia
Nov 18 2010 // A lawyer for the plaintiffs says attempts to settle a long-running water pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy Co. have failed. Two judges on West Virginia’s mass litigation panel have been trying to mediate a...
Slurry Pollution Case Plaintiffs Called to West Virginia Meeting
Nov 15 2010 // Eighteen months ago, Christina Doyle packed up her two kids for an eight-hour journey to a West Virginia courthouse, hoping for some resolution to a lawsuit over water pollution she believes caused her daughter’s...
Growth, Stability and Changes in Store for Long Term Care Market
Nov 14 2010 // With the first of 77 million baby boomers nearing retirement age in 2011, assisted living facilities and nursing home facilities will play a more important role than ever before. About three million Americans will require...
West Virginia Court Upholds Mine Safety Office Authority
Nov 3 2010 // The authority of West Virginia’s mine safety office to suspend coal miners has been upheld by the state Supreme Court. The decision stems from the death of locomotive driver Victor Goudy at Consol Energy’s...
