The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its third week. Jurors heard from a company president who was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony against Blankenship, as well as conflicting information about whether Blankenship was ever inside the Upper Big Branch mine.
Injury Control & Violence
Boycott! Don Blankenship’s propaganda film about Upper Big Branch disaster
Don Blankenship is marking the 4th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster with a propaganda film. Boycott it!
A fourth official formerly associated with Massey Energy was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for conspiring to thwart federal mine safety laws. Massey Energy was the operator in 2010 of the site where the worst coal mine disaster in 40 years occurred.
Three years ago today, 29 miners died at the Upper Big Branch coal mine.
Injury Control & Violence
Repeat violators of mine safety rules targeted in new Labor Dept regulation
The Labor Department’s MSHA issued a new regulation this week targeting employers that have an egregious pattern of violating mine safety and health standards.
The newly unveiled granite memorial in Whitesville, WV is a visible reminder of the 29 miners who were killed in the Upper Big Branch mine, but the truest measure of our recognition of their sacrifice is what we do in their memory to protect the living.
The Washington Post’s article “Meaningless millions” captures some of the heartbreak experienced when your loved one is killed on the job, but like most things, there’s more to the story.
Injury Control & Violence
If former Massey Energy is now “Running Right,” why keep secret its safety progress report?
Family members of the April 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster say they are still in the dark. The latest example is Alpha Natural Resources failure to make public a progress report required in its non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Injury Control & Violence
House Republicans say ‘nay’ to new mine safety reforms, no questions left about which side they’re on
Not a single Republican member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted in support of a resolution calling for the Committee to “consider and report legislation to improve safety and whistleblower protections for miners, and increase accountability for dangerous mine operators.” The 29 families of the Upper Big Branch miners now know who is standing with them and who is against them.
Alpha Natural Resources, which purchased Massey Energy in 2011, is publicizing it very cool mine-rescue dog name Ginny, the first of its kind in the U.S.. I can’t help but wonder though whether the promo-campaign about Ginny isn’t meant to distract us from the serious safety violations discovered in the company’s coal mines.