Calling April 5, 2010 “the single most heartbreaking day of my tenure,” Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis issued a statement on the eve of the second anniversary of the Upper Big Branch-South (UBB) Mine tragedy.

Solis said she would never forget the 29 men who died in the explosion, the two miners who were seriously injured or their loved ones. 

In her statement Wednesday, Solis said she would pursue violators “with the full force of the law,” and noted that MSHA is taking “major steps” to make sure “we never again see such a senseless loss of life.”