U.S. Attorney General Russell M. Coleman announced Wednesday an additional former supervisor and safety official from Armstrong Coal has been charged, in addition to the eight previous officials charged by a Federal Grand Jury, for conspiracy to defraud a U.S. government agency by deceit, trickery, and dishonest means.
In addition to the previous charges announced in July 2018, Coleman announced the Federal Grand Jury indicted Glendal “Buddy” Hardison, the former manager of all Armstrong Coal western Kentucky mines. Hardison allegedly met with co-Defendant Ron Ivy and an unindicted co-conspirator in 2013 and ordered them to do whatever they had to do to “make the pumps come in.”
According to a release, the Indictment charges the conspirators sought to deceive federal mine safety regulators as to the daily levels of breathable dust, the primary cause of “Black Lung” in miners, at both the Parkway Mine of Muhlenberg County and Kronos Mine of Ohio County. The Federal Grand Jury also charges the nine Armstrong Coal officials with making false statements as to results of tests required to be conducted every 60 days to protect certain “designated occupations,” that is the dustiest and most dangerous job assignments in a coal mine.
The Grand Jury previously indicted eight former Armstrong supervisory and safety officials, which include former Parkway Mine Superintendent 63-year old Charley Barber of Madisonville, former Parkway Mine Safety Director 60-year old Brian Casbier of Earlington, former Parkway Mine Assistant Safety Director 48-year old Steven Demoss of Nortonville, former Parkway Mine Section Foreman 42-year old Billie Herald of Russellville, former Kronos Mine Safety Director 50-year old Ron Ivy of Manitou, former Parkway Mine Safety Department employee 62-year old John Ellis Scott of South Carrollton, former Parkway Mine Section Foreman 40-year old Dwight Fulkerson of Drakesboro, and former Parkway Section Foreman 46-year old Jeremy Hackney of White Plains.
Armstrong coal is now bankrupt and Parkway Mine has closed. The Kronos Mine remains in operation under different ownership.
