West Virginia University mine safety expert Keith Heasley has been selected as one of three directors of a $48 million research fund created to improve mine safety in the wake of the Upper Big Branch disaster that killed 29 West Virginia coal miners in April 2010.

Heasley is, the Charles T. Holland Professor of Mining Engineering in the Department of Mining Engineering in the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. Other directors are: Michael Karmis, the Stonie Barker Professor of the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering and the director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech; and David Wegman, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Work Environment at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Together, they will direct the Alpha Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health Inc., created with an endowment from Alpha Natural Resources as part of its non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia and the U.S. Department of Justice. Alpha purchased the Big Branch Mine from Massey Energy, which owned the underground mine in Montcoal, WV, when the tragedy occurred. Alpha has since announced it is shuttering the mine, which never reopened.

“As part of our land-grant mission and service to people of West Virginia, WVU is committed to excellence in mining education, research and extension,” WVU President Jim Clements said. “Through this work, we honor those who have lost their lives and seek to prevent such losses in the future.

“WVU pledges its experience and expertise to help this foundation with its important goals in mine safety research, ” he said.

Heasley, who earned a doctorate in mining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University, came to WVU in 2001 after a career in the mining industry and federal mining safety research.

He is currently working to develop a seismic system for locating trapped miners and to educate the next generation of doctoral level mining safety professionals. The research is funded by two grants totaling $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Mining health and safety should be paramount to everyone associated with the industry,” said Gene Cilento, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the Statler College. “Keith Heasley’s scientific work in safety research and ground control will make him a valuable asset to the Alpha Foundation. I look forward to the committee’s work to fund advancements in this vital energy industry that is so important to the state and nation.”

The Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve mine health and safety through funding projects by qualified academic institutions, not-for-profit entities, and individuals associated with those entities.

The three directors will meet early this summer to discuss funding priorities and organize the foundation’s activities. None of their own research will be eligible for funding from the foundation and each will recuse themselves from selection decisions around research from their respective institutions.

“I am extremely honored to have been selected to serve as a director for the Alpha Foundation and to participate in this tremendous opportunity to improve safety and health in the mining industry,” Heasley said.

Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, said: “Mine safety and health is a top priority for our company and imperative to the success of our industry. We are proud to establish and fund the Foundation, and also appoint three leading experts to advance its objectives. The Foundation has a tremendous opportunity to drive the latest developments and innovation in mine safety and health to the benefit of millions of miners around the world.”

-WVU-

jb/05/14/12

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