Kentucky coal mine officials charged with cheating on key safety tests

Beth Warren | Courier Journal

Correction: Muhlenberg County previously was misspelled and was corrected.

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Federal prosecutors went to the heart of Western Kentucky's coalfields to a dimly lit mock mine Wednesday to deliver a stern warning — cheating in the mines can lead to years in a prison cell.

Held up as an example: A 10-page indictment returned Wednesday charging eight coal officials from the now-defunct Armstrong Coal with falsifying federally mandated coal dust tests designed to protect miners from incurable black lung disease.

U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman, the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Kentucky, who used to live nearby in Daviess County, said he grew up knowing coal miners so the accusations in this case "made me angry."

"These folks were very, very good at cheating," he said.

During the past 20 years, there has only been one similar federal case brought against a Western Kentucky coal company, but these cases could become more frequent, Coleman said.

"They'll be more of these ideally," he said of federal charges targeting abusive coal companies.

Despite a sharp downturn in the coal industry, there are still about 3,700 coal miners working underground in the Commonwealth, according to the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet.

"The health of our miners matters to Western Kentucky communities and those sworn to protect them," Coleman said.

In the case announced Wednesday, a former superintendent, Charley Barber, safety director Brian Keith Casebier and six others with now-defunct Armstrong Coal are charged with conspiracy to defraud an agency of the U.S. government by deceit, trickery and dishonest means for actions dating to 2013.

Armstrong officials "sought to deceive federal mine safety regulators as to the daily levels of breathable dust" at two of its underground mines: the Parkway Mine in Muhlenburg County and the Kronos Mine in Ohio County, prosecutors allege.

Others charged include: Steven DeMoss, assistant safety director; John Ellis Scott, who worked in the safety department; and section foremen Billie Hearld, Dwight Fulkerson and Jeremy Hackney, all of whom worked at the company's Parkway Mine. Ron Ivy, safety director at the Kronos Mine, also is charged, according to the indictments announced Wednesday.

Indictments only represent one side in a criminal case, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted. Prosecutors allege that all of the defendants had special training on dust regulations.

Each defendant, if convicted, faces up to five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine, Coleman told reporters gathered at the Owensboro Museum of Science and History, which offers the public a mock-up of an underground mine — sans the dangerous dust.

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Justin Greenwell, a former worker at Parkway Mine, said he realized something was wrong when he grew short of breath "like a heavy smoker" — even though he doesn't smoke — after just a few years in the Central City mine. He was diagnosed in his 20s with first stage pneumoconiosis, known as black lung, as it does irreparable damage to the lungs and can be fatal.

He and Michael "Flip" Wilson, disabled by the disease, detailed the hazards to Huffington Post reporter Dave Jamieson in 2014, prompting a federal investigation that eventually led to this week's charges.

As a result, Greenwell said he was fired and he and Wilson were shunned by coworkers who had been friends for years. The two, who claim they were labeled troublemakers, are among the workers who filed employment discrimination lawsuits against Armstrong Coal, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Armstrong Energy, which had offices in Madisonville, Kentucky. Their attorney, Tony Oppegard, didn't disclose details of settlements between his clients and the company, but said their illnesses were preventable if their company had complied with federally mandated safety measures.

"It's a horrible disease. You eventually will choke to death," Oppegard said. "And it's caused by greed."

Wilson, now 63, told the Courier Journal that he becomes too short of breath to chase his great-grandchildren in the yard or teach them to swim.

“I can hardly walk to the mailbox,” he said.

But Wilson said he isn't willing to consider a lung transplant.

"It just keeps eating your lungs up," he said. "It gets worse.

"Ain't no cure for this."

Armstrong officials are accused of making false statements about test results required every 60 days to protect those who work in the dustiest and most dangerous positions in the coal mines.

Investigators allege the company took dust samples from areas with cleaner air — not areas where miners worked long shifts — and the company falsified tests on days the mine wasn't even operating; workers who weren't wearing coal dust pumps, which register levels of hazardous coal dust, replaced others in areas thick with dust; and that a mine superintendent twice told a safety official to take whatever action was necessary to ensure the company passed dust sampling tests.

Instead, it was standard practice at Armstrong not to wear the coal dust pumps. Workers, like Wilson, were taught to wrap them in cloth or to hang them at the power center, where the air is cleaner — instead of wearing them for an entire shift, required by federal regulations.

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He said some coal miners felt forced to compromise their own safety, thinking: “If I complain about it, I’m gonna lose my job.”

After complaints by Wilson and Greenwell, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration sent a team of inspectors to "blitz" the mines, cutting off communication between the miners and administrators to prevent them from covering up the cheating. What they found led to the federal charges.

"Deliberate disregard for the safety and health regulations that protect workers warrants the most severe penalties allowed under the law," David G. Zatezalo, the mine safey administration's assistant secretary, said in a statement.

After reporting their concerns, Wilson and Greenwell were labeled troublemakers and shunned by friends they worked alongside for years. Greenwell was fired. He sued and got his job back before quitting in frustration about a year before the mine shut down.

Armstrong eventually went bankrupt, shutting down the Muhlenberg County mine where Greenwell and Wilson had worked. The Kronos mine has a new owner.

The indictments were announced amid a regional resurgence of black lung — long the scourge of an industry noted for its severe health and safety risks to its workers, according to Inside Climate News.

They also came as the Trump administration has pledged to do whatever it can to boost the ailing coal industry, which has been undercut economically by natural gas and, increasingly, by clean renewable energy sources like solar and wind, according to the nonprofit's report by James Bruggers.

Greenwell, now 33, said he finally spoke up about Armstrong to protect himself and his coworkers from further harm.

"Most people don't go against the company like I did," he said. "I stood up and did what I thought was right.

"I have no regrets."

Reporter Beth Warren: bwarren@courier-journal.com; 502-582-7164; Twitter @BethWarrenCJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/bethw.

WHAT IS BLACK LUNG?

It's a lung disease called pneumoconiosis, an occupational hazard not commonly found in the general population. Coal dust particles enter the lungs, irritating the delicate lung tissue and eventually forming massive impenetrable fibrous tissue that significantly restricts the lung's functions and causes scarring, which can lead to lung failure and death.