West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller is urging President Barack Obama to make several mine safety improvements immediately.
In a letter dated Sunday, Rockefeller told Obama he should consider several suggestions made by relatives of the men killed in the explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine. The April 5 blast killed 29 men, the worst loss of life in a U.S. coal mine in 40 years.
Among other things, relatives told a U.S. House panel a week ago that federal inspectors should be accompanied by individual miners and criminal penalties for tampering with methane gas detectors should be increased.
Investigators suspect a combination of methane and coal dust in the Upper Big Branch disaster.
Topics Virginia
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Insurance Broker Stocks Sink as AI App Sparks Disruption Fears 
Judge Awards Applied Systems Preliminary Injunction Against Comulate 
BMW Recalls Hundreds of Thousands of Cars Over Fire Risk 
How One Fla. Insurance Agent Allegedly Used Another’s License to Swipe Commissions 
