{Morgantown, West Virginia}...John Renner, 41, of Granville, a former mine foreman who admitted faking safety inspection reports, is suing St. Louis-based Patriot Coal Corp., subsidiary Eastern Associated Coal LLC, and several employees, alleging mine management pressured him to fake methane gas readings on sealed sections of the Federal No. 2 mine near Fairview to avoid a shutdown that would have stopped coal production. Though he recorded numbers for methane and oxygen levels, Renner later acknowledged he didn't do the inspection. Renner faces as much as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for making false statements and certifications.
