For those who haven’t been collecting Coal Baron bubblegum cards-
Don Blankenship was Chairman and CEO of Massey Energy. Massey had a strong
balance sheet, but a horrible safety record. So bad that miners near
retirement would quit a job if Massey bought them out rather than risk life
and limb. Produce, produce, produce….and cut corners with safety. The
Fed Govt are all red Socialists out to get him. The GOP can do no wrong.
For the 2008 election, he sponsored a rally/concert in southern WV with
Hannity from Fox News and Ted Nugent . All in support of the “miners” and
against that Kenyan. Spent tens of thousands of dollars.
Then 3 days later, during a holiday, he laid off whole work forces. After
all, the background for the pictures and videos were no longer needed.
He had ways of dodging mine inspectors and even treated a WV Supreme Court
Judge to a French Rivera trip and hookers.
Just a good ‘ole boy.
Anyway, 2010, one of his mines in Raleigh Co. blows up and kills 29 miners.
Methane and Coal dust build up. Machinery to clear the same and provide
safety were out of repair or turned off. They reduce production. Site had
numerous safety violations but continued to operate. Reports say he was
micromanaging the mine with hourly reports as it was one of the more
profitable at the time. After the explosions, all the problems surface.
Superintendents and shift bosses go to jail for a couple of years…..but
they seem to have rolled over for lighter sentences.
In the mean time Don was thrown out of Massey, which was sold to Alpha
Resources..who paid off claims to widows and orphans…all in an attempt to
make it go away. Don spends a lot of money making a documentary claiming
that the gas was a freak act of God and the government reports are all wrong
because they are out to get him.
Then another explosion-
Don gets a large Fed Indictment. The First (?) of a coal executive above
the mine level. Evidently there is a paper trail and the micromanaging
can’t be hidden.
——excerpt———-
“The indictment comes after a more than four-year investigation that began
following the mine disaster on April 5, 2010, but expanded to examine a
troubled safety record that critics have long argued put coal production and
profits ahead of worker protection.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby has led an unprecedented government
effort to link major safety lapses at Upper Big Branch and other Massey
mines up the corporate ladder to Blankenship, who was known for keeping a
firm grip on every aspect of Massey’s operations during nearly two decades
at the company’s helm…..
Two government and two independent investigations blamed the Upper Big
Branch deaths on a pattern by Massey of violating federal standards
concerning mine ventilation and the control of highly explosive coal dust,
both of which set the stage for a small methane ignition to turn into a huge
coal-dust-fueled explosion.
– See more at:
http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141113/GZ01/141119629#sthash.0wAda0S7.dpuf
————————
As said before, this is the first reach into the boardroom/ownership of a
coal operation for safety and federal violations. U.S. Attorney Booth
Goodwin is a WV native and an Obama nominee. Does anyone think that an
other party nominee would have followed the trail as closely?
R