Settlement approved in Aracoma mine disaster

A federal judge has approved a settlement involving the widows of the 2006 Aracoma mine disaster. U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver approved the deal between Aracoma widows Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield and the federal government Friday.

Bragg and Hatfield filed the the lawsuit after the Jan. 2006 deaths of their husbands, Don Bragg and Elvis Hatfield. They died in a belt fire at Massey Energy’s Aracoma Coal Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County. Bragg and Hatfield got separated from others miners on their crew because of the heavy smoke and lack of proper ventilation and didn’t make it out alive. The lawsuit, originally filed four years ago, blamed the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration for a lack of inspections at the mine and various conflicts of interest.

Under the settlement, MSHA is required to implement a new safety program at its national training center near Beckley. The program will focus on underground mine fire protection. A plaque dedication for the new program is scheduled for Oct. 27.

The settlement will also pay the widows a total of $1 million and allow them to see some transcripts of interviews conducted during the investigation