Massey adds 2 to board of directors to oversee shareholder litigation

Massey adds 2 to board of directors

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Coal producer Massey Energy says it’s added two people to its board of directors and put them in charge of reviewing conflicts with shareholders.

Virginia-based Massey announced the appointments of Robert Holland III and Linda Welty on Monday.

Massey says Welty and Holland will review various pending lawsuits and demands brought by shareholders. Several have arisen since an explosion killed 29 men at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia on April 5.

The blast remains the subject of criminal and civil investigations.

Massey says Holland, a Texan, is co-chairman of oil company Max Petroleum and a director of Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. Welty is from Georgia and has spent more than 30 years in the chemical industry as an executive with H. B. Fuller, among others.