Massey CEO Set to Open More Coal Mines
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Don Blankenship was head of Massey Energy when 29 coal miners lost their lives in a massive explosion. Forced to resign, he has been largely invisible since.
Now he’s filed papers to start another coal mine venture. According to BusinessWeek:
Public records show that Blankenship has incorporated a new venture in Kentucky. Paperwork for McCoy Coal Group Inc. of Belfry, Ky., has been on file since January, though, and it has yet to seek a single mining permit, says Kentucky Energy and Environment spokesman Dick Brown.
Following the April 2010 the explosian at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine, a Mine Workers (UMWA) report on the disaster summed up the tragedy in its title: Industrial Homicide. An independent report on the disaster commissioned by former Gov. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) concluded the responsibility for the explosion “lies with the management of Massey Energy…[B]y frequently and knowingly violating the law and blatantly disregarding known safety practices….Massey exhibited a corporate mentality that placed the drive to produce coal above worker safety.” And an investigation by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) found the company kept two sets of books to hide safety problems. Read the rest of this entry »
Massey Exec. Dropped from Merged Coal Firm
After intense criticism from mine safety advocates, lawmakers and others, a former Massey Energy Co. executive tied to the Upper Big Branch explosion that killed 29 miners will not be part of the newly merged company.
Alpha Natural Resources—which took over Massey’s operations this week—had earlier announced that former Massey chief operating officer and senior vice president Chris Adkins would “spearhead the implementation” of Alpha’s safety program.
But late yesterday, Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield told NPR’s Howard Berkes “Chris [Adkins] will not be joining Alpha. I’m not going to say anything more about it.”
During Adkins tenure at Massey, according the Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel (GIIP) that investigated the West Virginia disaster:
The company broke faith with its workers by frequently and knowingly violating the law and blatantly disregarding known safety practices…Massey exhibited a corporate mentality that placed the drive to produce coal above worker safety.
Massey Execs Tied to Upper Big Branch Blast Keep Jobs in Merger
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The former Massey Energy Co. chief operating officer who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to be interviewed by the West Virginia commission investigating the Upper Big Branch explosion that killed 29 miners, will play a role overseeing safety at the corporation taking over Massey’s mines.
He is just one of several former top Massey officials with Upper Big Branch connections who are moving to Alpha Natural Resources after shareholders for both companies yesterday approved the merger.
The recent report by the Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel (GIIP) found that the:
responsibility for the Upper Big Branch Mine lies with the management of Massey Energy. The company broke faith with its workers by frequently and knowingly violating the law and blatantly disregarding known safety practices.…Massey exhibited a corporate mentality that placed the drive to produce coal above worker safety.
Yesterday in a letter to Alpha CEO Kevin Crutchfield, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey Lynn (D-Calif.), senior members of the House Education and Workforce Committee, questioned Alpha’s decision to retain Chris Adkins, former Massey chief operating officer and senior vice president, former General Counsel Shane Harvey and Baxter Phillips, who served as Massey CEO after Donald Blankenship resigned in December and prior to that as Massey president.
In an April 15 letter to Alpha and Massey employees, Crutchfield said that Adkins would “spearhead the implementation” of Alpha’s safety program known as “Running Right.” In the letter Miller and Woolsey write:
We are troubled by indications that as Chief Executive, you could think that miners are fairly served by perpetuating Massey’s safety culture for even one minute.
Study Finds Unionized Coal Mines Substantially Safer
A new study shows that miners in unionized coal mines are far less likely to be killed or injured on the job than miners in nonunion operations. The independent study funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that “unionization predicts an 18-33 percent drop in traumatic injuries and a 27-68 percent drop in fatalities.”
The comprehensive study, conducted by Stanford University law professor Alison D. Morantz, the John A. Wilson Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School, looked at coal mine fatality and injury statistics from 1993 to 2008.
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says the study “quantifies the profound differences in safety underground coal miners experience when working union versus working nonunion.”
He points out that recent mining disasters, including the blast at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine that killed 29 miners last year, the Crandall Canyon (Utah) disaster that killed nine in 2007 and the Sago explosion in 2006 that killed 12 miners, have all been in nonunion mines.
The simple truth is that union mines are safer mines, and this study proves that.
Report: Upper Big Branch Miners Died Because of Corporate Risk-Taking
Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) coal mine exploded April 5, 2010 because the company operated the mine in a “profoundly reckless manner and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk-taking,” according to an independent report on the disaster commissioned by former W.Va. Gov. Joe Manchin (D).
The report by Davitt McAteer, former head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, says:
The disaster at Upper Big Branch was man-made and could have been prevented had Massey Energy followed basic, well-tested and historically proven safety procedures….Massey exhibited a corporate mentality that placed the drive to produce coal above worker safety.
It found that a combination of methane gas and huge amounts of coal dust in the poorly ventilated and improperly monitored nonunion mine turned a small ignition into a massive explosion that roared through the underground tunnels.
Mine Execs Want to Police Themselves on Safety
The day after federal mine safety officials announced a series of “outrageous” safety violations at a Massey Energy West Virginia coal mine, mining industry officials were on Capitol Hill calling for fewer federal inspections and a voluntary safety program.
At the hearing before the Education and Workforce’s Workforce Protections Subcommittee, the Republican majority allowed just one worker’s witness, Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts, while three mine industry executives testified. Said Roberts:
The disaster at Upper Big Branch, as well as the other deaths and illnesses that continue to plague the mining industry make it clear that Congress must do more to protect miners. Operators should be required to make better efforts to prevent illnesses and injuries in the first place. After all, the mining industry has shown time and time again it is not very effective at self-policing.
Today Is First Anniversary of Deadly Upper Big Branch Explosion
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One year ago today, 29 coal miners were killed in an explosion at a West Virginia mine that had a long and troubling record of safety violations.
This evening in Whitesville, W.Va., family members, mine rescue personnel and first responders, along with acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D), Labor Secretary Labor Hilda Solis, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D), Sen. Joe Manchin (D) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D) will gather for a private ceremony to commemorate the miners who were killed in the blast. While the service is closed to the public, it will be streamed live at www.FacesOfTheMine.com at 6 p.m. EDT.
Yet a year after the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch mine disaster, we still don’t have a definitive answer as to exactly what happened nor exactly who was responsible for the deadly blast that federal mine safety officials say was “preventable.” But Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says, “there are things we do know” about the nonunion mine.
We do know that the mine’s owner, Massey Energy, operated the Upper Big Branch and other mines with an attitude bordering on contempt for mine safety and health laws and regulations. We do know that the mine’s head of security has been indicted for lying to investigators and trying to destroy evidence.
MSHA Says Massey Blast Shows Need for Tougher Safety Laws
As we approach Tuesday, April 5, the first anniversary of the deadly blast at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) mine that killed 29 coal miners, the nation’s top mine safety official today called for tougher laws and bigger penalties for safety violators.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) chief Joe Main today told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee:
No mine operator should be risking the lives of its miners by cutting corners on health and safety. For those operators who do knowingly engage in such practices, we need to send a message that their actions will not be tolerated.
Main also called for stronger protections for miners who speak out about unsafe practices and conditions.
Miners know best the conditions in their mine. But miners are afraid to speak out because they fear they’ll lose their jobs. Read the rest of this entry »
Former Massey ‘Foreman’ Charged in Upper Big Branch Probe
A former employee at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch mine who conducted vital safety inspections was charged yesterday with using a false foreman’s license and lying to federal investigators who are probing the April 5, 2010, explosion that killed 29 coal miners.
Thomas Harrah, 45, of Seth, W.Va., who quit Massey last year, faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said:
The charges filed today arise out of our investigation into what led to the tragedy at Upper Big Branch. I want to be clear: There will be real consequences if you falsify records, lie to federal agents or otherwise attempt to obstruct this investigation.
While Harrah was licensed as a coal miner, he failed a 2007 foreman’s test, but used a false foreman’s certificate number, according to the charges. In December, Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette reported that state mining officials alleged that Harrah used a fake foreman’s license when he performed at least 228 pre-shift, on-shift and conveyor belt safety examinations at Upper Big Branch from January 2008 to August 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
Rival Coal Firm Reaches Deal to Buy Massey Energy
Alpha Natural Resources has reached an $8.5 billion deal to buy Massey Energy Corp., owner of the Upper Big Branch (W.Va.) coal mine where 29 miners were killed in an April explosion, and owner of other mines with long histories of safety and health violations.
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says the takeover could have a positive impact for Massey’s workers.
While by no means perfect, Alpha’s overall safety record is better than Massey’s. Alpha’s got quite a job on its hands to turn the former Massey mines around from Massey’s safety-last culture. But if they are successful, the miners at the former Massey mines will be at less risk than they have been.
Alpha operates some 60 mines while Massey owns about 50 coal mines.
