Senators investigating a disastrous August cave-in at a Utah coal mine that killed six miners and three rescue workers will subpoena the mine's owner, Robert Murray.
The panel of the Senate Appropriations Committee that is probing the matter voted to subpoena Murray after he failed to appear at an earlier hearing in September.
At the time there were conflicting reports as to why Murray was a no-show, with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) saying the mining magnate had claimed illness was keeping him from Washington.
In an e-mail message to The Huffington Post on the day of the hearing, Murray wrote "no one that I know told him I am sick. I am not." Murray said he did not attend the September hearing because he was still "administering to the families" at Crandall Canyon.
A statement released by Murray Energy on Thursday said the company was not aware of any subpoena being issued, and remained committed to cooperating with authorities.
Specter told his constituents in an electronic newsletter earlier this month that the subpoena was necessary because Murray "really flouted the responsibility and authority of the United States Senate to have his testimony to find out what happened."
The appropriations committee probe is just one of three concurrent investigations on Capitol Hill looking at the Crandall Canyon disaster.
The House Education and Labor Committee issued its own subpoena to the Labor Department in September to turn over a slew of documents related to the Crandall Canyon mine and the department's response to the cave-in. The Senate education and labor committee is also looking into the disaster.
In addition, inspectors from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration are currently conducting investigative hearings of their own on the ground in Utah. Last week, a federal judge in Salt Lake City denied a request by various news organizations, including CNN, The Associated Press and the Salt Lake Tribune, to open those investigative hearings to the media.
U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson said there was nothing in the constitution or U.S. statutes requiring that MSHA's investigation be opened to the public.