24 Coal Mines Owned By WV Governor Settle DOJ Lawsuit For $5 Million For 3,000+ Safety Citations

[hatrack]

Coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice have agreed to pay more than $5 million in overdue mine health and safety fines and fees.

According to a press release released Wednesday, a total of 24 coal companies owned by the Justice family agreed to settle millions of dollars in unpaid penalties and fines owed to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA. The fines stemmed from nearly 3,000 citations issued to Justice mine operators between May 2014 and May 2019 under the federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

The settlement comes nearly one year after the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Justice companies in May 2019, following an Ohio Valley ReSource investigation that showed the Justice companies had the highest delinquent mine safety debt in the U.S. mining industry.

The civil lawsuit, brought by U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen of the Western District of Virginia and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, alleged 23 Justice coal companies located in five states — Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky — owed more than $5 million in delinquent debts.

EDIT

https://ohiovalleyresource.org/2020/04/01/justice-coal-companies-agree-to-settle-5-million-in-delinquent-mine-safety-debts/

[riversedge]

1. past time to do what was right!

[eyeofnewt]

2. Settlement

If this was a “settlement”, it makes me wonder what the real price tag was for all those violations. He has a long history of not paying. He’s been sued multiple times, including by the UMW on behalf of union retirees for not paying health costs under their national agreement.

Also, in 2009 he sold Bluestone mines to a Russian company, then bought them back 6 yrs later at quite a profit:

From mountainmessenger.com:

“ On Feb. 12, the Jim Justice family paid $5 million for Bluestone, a mining facility located in McDowell and Wyoming counties from Mechel OAO. Justice sold the same facility to Mechel for a reported cash and stock deal valued at $568 million in 2009. Mechel idled Bluestone last April, citing low coal prices.”