New Information In UBB Investigation

Federal prosecutors say their investigation of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster has revealed new information giving them key leads toward more potential criminal charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby revealed the information in a new court filing that seeks to delay certain proceedings in a civil case by former Massey Energy shareholders who say they were deliberately misled about the company's safety record before the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners. Prosecutors and the former Massey company and executives agreed to ask U.S. District Judge Irene Berger to delay discovery in the shareholder case until January, the same deadline set in a similar case in Delaware business court. In the court filing, the government says the delay would "allow the United States to pursue those leads and make decisions on potential charges without interference from civil discovery." Prosecutors say allowing discovery would give defendants in the civil case access to documents they don't currently have about the company's operations at Upper Big Branch. Some of those defendants may be or may become subjects of the criminal investigation, and access to such records would allow them to anticipate in detail the direction of the criminal investigation.