The FBI has interviewed nearly two dozen current and former employees of Massey Energy Co. in a criminal probe of the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 men, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.
The official said that in the interviews over recent days the FBI has been looking for any evidence that the company engaged in criminal negligence. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry has not been made public.
The FBI declined to comment about at its headquarters in Washington.
National Public Radio reported that the Mine Safety and Health Administration is also under investigation.
The FBI is examining possible bribery of officials at the agency that oversees the mining industry and possible criminal negligence on the part of Massey, NPR reported, citing unidentified sources.
Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said Massey Energy is aware that investigators are interviewing witnesses but is "not aware of the nature of their investigation. We intend to cooperate in all phases of the accident investigation."
Prompted by a separate mine accident in Kentucky, President Barack Obama issued a statement saying his administration is taking steps to demand accountability for safety violations and to "strengthen mine safety so that all of our miners are protected."
Rushing to judgment?
The FBI probe of the accident at the Upper Big Branch coal mine follows strong statements two weeks ago in which Obama criticized the company.
On April 15, the president asked the secretary of labor to work with the Justice Department "to ensure that every tool in the federal government is available in this investigation."
"Safety violators like Massey have still been able to find ways to put their bottom line before the safety of their workers — filing endless appeals instead of paying fines and fixing safety problems," Obama said at the time.
Massey Energy's response at the time called the president's remarks "regrettable" and said that "unfortunately, some are rushing to judgment for political gain or to avoid blame."
The FBI is in the very early stage of looking at Massey Energy following the mine disaster, government officials told NBC News.
A senior official said the government heard many allegations against the company and against mine inspectors in the days following the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine. Now the FBI is sorting through them. But the probe has not reached the stage of an actual criminal investigation, the official told NBC News.
Separately, a Labor Department spokesman strongly disputed the NPR report that officials of the MSHA are being investigated for possible bribery in connection with Massey. "That is absolutely not true," the spokesman told NBC News.