Workforce Chairman Pressing MSHA

• {Washington, D.C.}...House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline, R-Minn., is pressing the Obama administration for answers about whether U.S. Labor Department inspectors may have tipped off Massey Energy officials about inspections at the company's Upper Big Branch Mine prior to the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners. Kline cited sworn statements by former Upper Big Branch superintendent Gary May that MSHA inspectors regularly told company officials when they planned to visit the Raleigh County mine. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin has already said his office is investigating the allegations made by May, who admitted to a one-count felony charge that he conspired to violate mine safety standards and cover up the resulting unsafe conditions.