University Cooperating In Federal Investigation

• {Morgantown, West Virginia}...Wheeling Jesuit University officials said Wednesday they are cooperating with federal investigators who seized records from the offices of J. Davitt McAteer, the school's vice president for federally sponsored research programs, on February 15th. From 1992 to 2000, McAteer was head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, and he has been a vocal critic of the coal mining industry since leaving. McAteer has also led independent investigations into the 2006 Sago Mine explosion that trapped and killed 12 men, the 2006 Alma No. 1 mine fire that killed two men and the 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion, which killed 29. Earlier in his career, McAteer teamed with Ralph Nader to push mine-safety reform, and he helped the United Mine Workers revitalize its health and safety department. McAteer has also authored a book on the Monongah mine explosion, which killed hundreds of men and boys in north-central West Virginia in 1907.