Mine Owner to Pay $209 Million in Blast Settlement (ANR)

Mining company Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) has agreed to a total settlement payment of $209 million in connection with the explosion that killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in 2010. The mine was owned at the time by Massey Energy, which has since been acquired by Alpha.

The settlement includes $46.5 million for the survivors of the dead miners and for payments to the other miners injured in the blast. That part of the deal also protects Alpha from prosecution, but does not immunize individual Massey executives.

Under the terms of the settlement, Alpha will pay $80 million to improve safety at all the company’s mines; $48 million to set up a mine health and safety foundation; and about $35 million in fines and fees to the US Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Survivors are not satisfied with the agreement, primarily because it allows former Massey executives to escape prosecution for knowingly requiring employees to use unsafe practices. But US mine safety regulations make criminal prosecution difficult if not impossible. As the mineworker’s union chief put it, “Until someone goes to jail, there will be no justice done here.”