United States Department of Labor, and United Mine Workers of America, Intervenor/plaintiff-Appellee v. Wolf Run Mining Company, Incorporated

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge NIEMEYER wrote the opinion, in which Judge SHEDD and Judge DUNCAN joined.

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge.

In the wake of the catastrophic Sago Mine explosion in Upshur County, West Virginia, in which 12 miners were killed and another seriously injured, the mine operator, Wolf Run Mining Company, the Secretary of Labor through the Mine Safety and Health Administration (the “Secretary” or the “Mine Safety Administration”), and the United Mine Workers of America (“UMWA” or the “Union”) became enmeshed in a dispute over the protocol for investigating the cause of the…