Alpha Natural Resources to compensate after mining disaster
Dec
8
Written by:
08/12/2011 12:13
Owner of Upper Big Branch mine to settle claims
Alpha Natural Resources will pay $209.5 million to settle civil and criminal claims after the death of 29 miners at a subsidiary which it recently aquired.
The miners died in a massive explosion last year and the US government has already fined previous owners Massey more than $10 million after discovering 369 violations of federal law.
The new settlement includes $46.5 million for the families of the dead miners – which works out to about $1.5 million per family. Families are unhappy with this amount after former Massey CEO Don Blankenship received over $70 million in a retirement package when he stepped down last year despite being under criminal investigation for his role in the blast.
According Rolling Stone magazine one Upper Big Branch miner has already been sentenced to 10 months in jail for faking documents and lying to investigators. A security chief at the mine also faces up to 25 years behind bars for lying to federal investigators and trying to destroy evidence.
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