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Massey Energy: When Greed Leads to Manslaughter
Just when we thought Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch (in Montcoal, West Virginia) mining disaster of April 5, 2010, which killed 29 coal miners, couldn’t elicit any more tears or regrets or disgust or outrage, we find out how wrong we were.
PATRIOT? Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, citing Fifth Amendment protection, has refused to testify in mining disaster investigation. On June 28, federal investigators announced they had discovered that Massey Energy was keeping two sets of books (safety logs).Even after an independent investigation commissioned by the state’s former governor reported (on May 19, 2011) that the accident had been the clear result of safety violations, even after we learned that Massey had been cited for more than 1300 safety violations in the five years leading up to the explosion, and even after we concluded, bitterly, that Massey was guilty of wanton carelessness and recklessness—we find that we had aimed way too low.
It turns out that Massey executives were not only negligent, they were calculatingly criminal. On June 28, federal investigators announced they had discovered that Massey Energy was keeping two sets of books (safety logs). One log reflected actual mine conditions, which, alas, were demonstrably unsafe, and the other log was a fictionalized showpiece, a veritable Potemkin village, used to mislead government safety inspectors.
Maybe our first order of business should be to change the nomenclature. Given that Massey knew of the unsafe conditions and not only failed to address them, but attempted to conceal them from the very inspectors whose job it was to protect the miners from injury, we should no longer refer to the Big Branch explosion as an accident, disaster or tragedy. We should refer to it as “manslaughter.”
Also, let’s not forget that the mining industry continues to lobby the U.S. government to reduce its safety regulations, arguing that the industry can “police itself,” and that under the free enterprise system, America’s businesses should be entitled to earn an honest dollar without intrusive government interference. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers support deregulation.
Earlier this month, Massey Energy sold its operation to another company, Alpha Natural Resources. Alpha management has said that it knew nothing of the double-books and was looking into the allegations. As for the Massey folks, citing Fifth Amendment protection, eighteen Massey officials (including CEO Don Blankenship) have so far refused to testify in the investigation.
Even though Massey Energy’s Big Branch mine was a non-union operation, the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America) has agreed to represent the miners in the investigation. And while it gives no one any satisfaction to point out the obvious, union mines have significantly better safety records than non-union facilities. Why? Because with the UMWA representing them, miners can’t be ignored, particularly when it comes to safety concerns. Union miners have a legally established, recognized voice.
On June 29, I spoke by telephone with Phil Smith, the UMWA Communications Director. Although he didn’t wish to discuss the Massey revelations until after UMWA president Cecil Roberts had the opportunity to make an official statement (which Roberts did later that afternoon), Smith did tell me that the U.S. Department of Labor’s MHSA (Mine Health and Safety Administration) had improved greatly over the last year and a half.
Part of the credit for that improvement goes to the Obama administration for having appointed Joe Main to run the agency. Arguably, no one in the country knows more about mine safety than Joe Main, who started out as a coal miner himself, way back in 1967, and eventually rose to become the UMWA’s safety guru. So instead of some bureaucratic pencil-pusher, the MHSA now has an actual ex-miner looking out for the well-being of other miners, which is exactly what that industry needs.
Unfortunately, two sets of books isn’t totally unheard of in the mining business. In 2001, at a coal mine in Brookwood, Alabama, two sets of books were found after an explosion killed 13 miners. The Bush administration chose not to file criminal charges.
18 Comments so far
Show AllSomewhat tangential, I had cause to deal with a local repairman this week, and he told me he can't leave this area because he's got the best G.I. medical help in the world at Gainesville's Shands Hospital. He proceeded to tell me about his work at nuclear power plants, and I had a feeling I'd get a certain answer when I posed the "crucial question." That question: did he think the government should continue to deregulate businesses (to esssentially police themselves). Before I had a chance to finish the question, his retort came as the pabulum no doubt heard on right wing radio... he said he blamed government! Not lax exposures from the time spent in the military and/or working at nuclear power plants. In his mind, government REGULATION was to blame. It takes a lot to twist reasoning that far.
I know people in this forum who think it's just a matter of how issues might be framed to win support from our worker peers on the Right. Perhaps. However, brainwashing goes deeper than many imagine; and in my view is not unlike what proved necessary in the way of deprogramming kids who went along with the Moonies cult, following after Reverend Sun-Moon's organizations here in the U.S. some 35 years ago.
This guy has had over 20 treatments, awaits surgery, but in his mind... it's the government that is to blame for his malady. I think what he was trying to say was that government regulations made it so difficult for an industry like nuclear power to "prosper," that they HAD to cut back in certain areas. (At least I think that was the logic operating in his head.)
There is your Karma you always talk about.
Does he need surgery from the Nuke empire or the War empire?
Brainwashed is true. Dumb is better. They need either a religion or a radio airhead to tell them what to think.
2 sets of books, 2 sets of rules. If a low paid worker did any of the things the CEOs did, they would be in jail.
And at that point, I would have dismissed him. I have all ready done it a few times to that type of local "repairman" and usually, they have to bring it up. I won't tolerate that type of moron in my house, I will not contribute to their income.
I'm not saying that that is what you should do, Souixrose. I just thought it interesting that you had brought such a topic up, I also had to cut off contact with my mother for an extended period when she started bloviating reich wing shit, undoubtedly instilled in her mind by my uber-corporate brother. I told her that I would no longer talk with her about her political views while being restrained from voicing mine, so she should not contact me until she would be able to keep it to the level of basic conservation.
It was several months before I heard from her; it could have gone on for years and years. Done is done- and I am done with that mentatlity. They are like brain dead zombie morons.
SLIM: I live in the Bible belt. Years ago when I was contemplating a move to Gainesville I stopped in Coconut Grove (hip, near Miami) for an espresso before heading north. A truck driver stopped in and began to talk to my male companion. The truck driver told him that if he intended to get work in North Florida he would, at the least, be approached by The Klan (that's right, THAT Klan) to pass snuff with the locals.
The local power company forced me to move a power pole in November. It had been there from the time I purchased the property almost 3 years prior. But all of a sudden they decided it violated some code. It cost me $1100. I was referred to the most well-known local electrician and he went on and on about Obama, and when I tried to say that both parties served the same masters, I could feel his blood boil. He wanted a Black man, specifically, to blame. My New York accent is still with me, and I'm sure they think of me as some Yankee liberal, while they take my money.
The fact is, whenever I am forced to deal with local contractors, I am forced to deal with this mentality. Most voting places around here ARE churches, and if you don't belong to one, it's very difficult to get a teaching job. That's right, a PUBLIC school teaching job. I LIVE the fact that there is no separation of church and state in this area. I have resided in the Florida Keys, California, New York and Athens, Georgia... and every one of those places has a different (more open-minded) vibe than here.
I forget who posted the idea that the U.S. will probably devolve into regions of sovereignty. I think that may prove the case. My area has many untouched natural sanctuaries, and that's what appeals to me. Ultimately, most animals could teach a good deal to the locals about ethics and principles of fairness and decency.
Yes, there is something decidedly "different" about Florida. I am very familiar with Pinellas County and still like it very much, but the rest of the state is strange, to me. That Casey Anthony trial is actually a microcosm of all the crud that seems to go on in much of Florida.
I am very familiar with the Bible Belt as well, having lived in Atlanta - before and during the human tsunami, Charlotte- before and during another human tsunami, and now Louisville which is the best of the three BY FAR, but the surrounding counties exhibit that same smug hatefulness that you, and I, have to contend with.
I wish you peace; you do get to live in natural splendor- there still is that in many parts of Florida at least for now.
That's awful. How do you put up with those people? I hope you get those contractors to wash their hands and wipe their shoes before you let them in the trademan's entrance.
A little off point, but here's another calculative move by the oligarchy..."If Republicans will not accept revenues in a package to lift the debt ceiling by August 2, [Bill] Clinton said, Obama should pursue a short-term agreement based on the spending reductions both sides have already accepted." TheAtlantic.com (July 3d)
This typical trade union article that blames "Greed" Leads to Manslaughter"
is typically false. "Greed" is not the root cause of the problem.
To replace the CEO at Massey Energy with a less "greedy" CEO will not basically solve the underlying problem that caused the death of 29 miners. It is the essential nature of for-profit corporations to maximize profit at all costs.
Hundreds of violations, with multi-million dollar fines, does not affect the coal, oil, nuclear, energy toxic energy industry polluters for continuing "business as usual"
Massey coal company is a perfect example of the corrupt nature of the entire "privatized" energy industry. The entire energy industry (oil, coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) is looting the natural resources of the planet for maximum profit no matter the destruction of humanity and the ecological balance of nature, causing massive climate change and global warming.
This company, working under the logic of corporate capitalism, will never “fix” itself despite hundreds of regulations, huge fines, or even criminal charges against the managers. The owners would rather simply shut the mine down and walk away, rather than incur the massive loss of profits.
The demand must now be made to seize the ownership of the mine away from it’s owners by reason of criminal operation. What is needed is not just “nationalization” but “socialization” of the mine, with the workers and managers employed to jointly manage the mine to meet the safety requirements demanded by the miners. Social ownership of the mines with democratic control under workers management must be demanded.
But this must be just the first step towards nationalizing and socializing the entire coal industry.
After the unending environmental disasters wrecking havoc on the planet, the oil industry should be likewise socialized.
After the nuclear disasters in Japan, with many reactors in this country potentially as dangerous, the nuclear power industry should be socialized, and phased out of existence. Again with the employees and workers in control of managing the reactors.
Fossil fuel pollution continues to drive global warming. Global warming, climate change, will not be stopped while driven by profiteering gangster oil companies.
Wars are now being waged continuously in the Middle East to secure the oil resources. By nationalizing the oil industry and starting the transition to non-polluting technologies, THE WARS FOR PROFIT FROM OIL AND MILITARISM WILL THEN END.
This is a perfect opportunity for the labor movement to take a stand of leadership on behalf of coal miners, oil workers, nuclear power industry workers that is essential for their survival and the survival of humanity and the planet.
FOR THE AFL-CIO AND ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT TO MAKE PUBLIC THIS DEMAND WOULD HAVE A ELECTRIFYING EFFECT UPON THIS CRIMINAL CORPORATIONS AND BRING HOPE TO EVERYONE THAT CHANGE IS POSSIBLE !
Read daily the World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org
JERRY: Thank you for your posts. Is it your view that the attempts on the part of several governors to inhibit union activity will cause an ignition switch to fire up? Right now we see principled rebellious actions in places like Wisconsin, but it seems that the push-back is only springing forth reactions, on a state by state basis. Control of media (to frame the conversation in a way that benefits the corporate masters) convinces many viewers to identify with positions that are antithetical to their well-being. In my view, this factor represents the central force thwarting a collective response on a massive scale.
Fox "news," right wing radio, and the ethos of Calvinism merged with the YOY mantra popularized during the Reagan years leads to persons who are justifiably angry, yet don't understand the true cause behind their virtual financial imprisonment (or debt servitude).
Bravo. I could not agree more.
I don't think it is accurate to say that Massey energy lobbies. Massey writes the law and hands it to legislators both state and local who they have bought. And OF COURSE THEY HAVE BOUGHT THE JUDGES. In fact it's amazing to me that they even bother to have two sets of books, as if they have to hide anything to keep from being prosecuted. The real question for West Vigriians to answer is not why those greedy bastards at Masey get away with this. The real questions is why you West Virginians have such a bunch of thugs representing you in what passes for a legitimate government. But then the answer becomes clearer why there is no prosecution when you realize that it was only the lives of 29 miners that was taken. Who in God's creation values them? Maybe a few of their family.
Corporations hold the Laws and Justice system to mockery.
Why are the administrators of Massey Energy not in gaol?
Only by taking the law into their own hands can ordinary people see justice done.
Talk about wrapping himself in the flag
Yeah, shouldn't he be holding a cross?
One must remember the purpose of the entity of the Corporation when it was first conceived of.
It was to LIMIT liability and to ensure those that invested in said Corporation in order to make profits were personally shielded from Liability for the harm said Corporation might commit.
In the United States of America they are seen by the courts as PERSONS with all of the rights of a Citizen but having no personal responsibility for its actions. They are a "super Citizen".
This is another clear example of how our political system has been bought and is controlled by those with the deepest pockets. This is an example that is so blatant-selling of a company is one way big business tries to escape accountability but more and more of us are watching what is happening.
When a climate activist like Tim DeChristopher faces jail time for bidding in a land auction later deemed illegal and no one faces criminal charges at Massey something is really wrong.
Support Tim by signing this petition asking Pres Obama to pardon him http://www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-pardon-environmental-activist-tim-dechristopher
It is up to each of us to stand up for what is right and speak out and take some action against what is clearly wrong.