Did the company responsible for a major Kentucky mining industry disaster face criminal penalties?
In October 2000, coal slurry spilled from a Kentucky mining company’s holding pond, contaminating water over a wide region in a major environmental disaster.
Federal authorities did not pursue criminal charges against the company, Massey Energy. After the Bush administration took office in 2001, new leadership at the regulatory agency in charge replaced the lead investigator working on the case. The agency ultimately assessed what it termed the “legal maximum” in civil penalties, $110,000, later cut to $55,000. By comparison, the company was reported to have paid the state of Kentucky $3.25 million in fines, as well as $600,000 to neighboring West Virginia.
The Environmental Protection Agency included the spill among multiple violations in a lawsuit filed against Massey in 2007, which the company settled for $20 million.
