On April 6, 2010, just one day after a massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 miners, Booth Goodwin began a criminal investigation into the nation’s worst coal mine disaster in nearly 40 years.
Goodwin, who at the time was in charge of the economic crime section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of West Virginia, would later become U.S. Attorney, where he would expand the investigation.
More than two years later, after dozens of interviews by federal agents and grand jury investigations, Goodwin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby are climbing higher up the chain of authority at the former Massey Energy company, assigning responsibility for operating coal mines in an unsafe manner and, in the words of Goodwin, putting “production over safety.”
Wednesday, Goodwin released details of an “information” against former long-time Massey operator David C. Hughart. (An information is used by federal prosecutors when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty and is cooperating with investigators.)
The information says Hughart, who was president of Massey’s Green Valley resource group in Nicholas County, conspired with others to routinely violate health and safety laws “because of a belief that consistently following those laws would decrease coal production.” Additionally, Hughart was responsible for illegal advance warnings at Massey mines when federal mine inspectors arrived.
Hughart is not directly connected to the UBB mine, but it was the expanding investigation into the disaster that led investigators to him, making him the fourth person charged as a result of the probe.
The charge against Hughart is significant because of his position: the head of a group of mines in the Massey chain with upper management responsibilities.
“This is the highest ranking official we have charged to date,” Goodwin told me. “This is a significant step forward. This is not the end of the investigation.”
There are other group presidents in Massey who held positions similar to Hughart. The essential question is whether Hughart chose on his own to operate his mines outside the law or whether he was part of a larger corporate culture at Massey mines, including UBB, where management pushed hard to “run coal,” even if it meant skirting the law.
So, where will it lead? Goodwin either does not know yet or won’t say, but the charges against Hughart will send shockwaves through the coal mining industry, especially since Hughart is cooperating with investigators.
“This is not the end of the investigation,” Goodwin told me.