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http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/west-virginia-mine-disaster-repeated-safety-violations-red/story?id=10301990

West Virginia Mine Disaster: Repeated Safety Violations Were A 'Red Flag'

More Than 100 Safety Violations For Upper Big Branch Mine So Far This Year,

548 Violations In 2009

14 comments By BRIAN ROSS and MATTHEW MOSK

Apr. 6, 2010

Critics say a surge of federal safety citations and revealing internal

corporate memos all suggest that the company behind the Upper Big Branch

mine – where 25 coal miners died Monday -- has focused more on generating

record profits than on protecting its workers.

Coal Boss Don Blankenship: If you take photos, "you're liable to get shot.""

It was surprising how much evidence there was of a general disregard for

safety of coal miners," Bruce Stanley, a lawyer who battled Massey Energy on

behalf of the widows of two dead miners, told ABC News Tuesday.

Over the last year, there has been a spike in fines for the operators of

Upper Big Branch, many involving flagrant and repeated violations that were

above the national average. Federal records showed the Massey Energy

subsidiary received 548 citations in 2009 and 122 so far in 2010.

There were 58 last month alone, including almost daily citations related to

proper ventilation or the dangerous accumulation of coal dust. J. Davitt

McAteer, who once oversaw the nation's mine safety administration, said

Tuesday that he believes regulators should have known there was a problem

brewing. "That's a red flag. That's saying, 'wait a minute, something's gone

wrong here,'" he said.

Federal mine safety officials said today that even with the continued and

recurring problems over the last month, the law did not allow them to shut

the mine down.