Mine officers indicted in coal-dust fraud

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Eight former supervisors and safety officers at a Kentucky coal company were indicted Wednesday on federal charges that they rigged dust monitoring in underground mines, forcing miners to work in the kind of dirty conditions that can lead to black lung disease.

The eight officials who worked at the now-bankrupt Armstrong Coal in western Kentucky were charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the government by “deceit, trickery and dishonest means,” according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that company officials ordered workers to remove dust sampling equipment and place it in clean air portions of the mine to get desirable readings, or they moved workers without dust monitors into the dirtiest jobs. The indictment says the offenses happened at Armstrong’s Parkway and Kronos mines between 2013 and 2015.

Company officials fabricated and submitted dust sampling test results on days the mine was shut down or not in operation, and one mine superintendent twice mandated a safety official take whatever action necessary to ensure that the company passed dust sampling tests, according to the indictment.