Don Blankenship
cmonforton | October 11, 2017The U.S. Supreme Court is not interested in hearing former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's claim that he didn't get a fair trial. On October 10, the court denied Blankenship's petition to review his criminal conviction. (here (see page 3))
In December 2015 a jury found Blankenship guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety standards. Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine was the site of the worst coal mine disaster in 40 years when 29 miners were killed by a massive coal dust explosion. Blankenship micromanaged his coal mines so much so that he demanded production reports every hour.…
cmonforton | October 4, 2017President Trump’s nominee to head the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) appeared today before a Senate committee for a confirmation hearing. David Zatezalo answered questions about the epidemic of black lung cases, an increase in mine worker fatalities, the need for safety assistance for small mine operators, and more. Zatezalo began his career in 1974 as a UMWA coal miner and most recently served as chairman of Rhino Resources.
I watched the webcast of Zatezalo's confirmation hearing. The nominee noted his experience managing 39 different coal mines in the U.S.…
kkrisberg | October 26, 2016Charles Ornstein at ProPublica and Mike Hixenbaugh at the Virginian-Pilot investigate the man known as Dr. Orange for his “fervent” defense against claims that exposures to Agent Orange sickened American veterans. A part of their long-running investigation “Reliving Agent Orange,” this most recent article reports that the Veterans Administration has repeatedly cited Dr. Orange’s (real name: Alvin Young) work to deny compensation to veterans, even though many argue Young’s work is compromised by inaccuracies, inconsistencies and omissions. In addition, the very chemical companies that make…
lborkowski | April 18, 2016Rena Steinzor in the New York Times Opinion Pages: Judgment Day for Reckless Executives
Angus Deaton in JAMA: On Death and Money: History, Facts, and Explanations (This is an editorial about the study by Raj Chetty and colleagues on income and life expectancy, and you can also read about their findings in the New York Times.)
Maryn McKenna in the New York Times Magazine: The Looming Threat of Avian Flu
Kira Shepherd in Rewire: The Context of Historical Racism Matters in the Birth Control Benefit Case
Edward Humes in Citylab: The Absurd Primacy of the Automobile in American Life
cmonforton | December 4, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship concluded this week with jurors finding him guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety standards. Blankenship's Upper Big Branch coal mine was the scene of the worst US mine disaster in 40 years when 29 men were killed in a massive coal dust explosion on April 5, 2010.
US Attorney Booth Goodwin---who managed the team of investigators and lawyers who brought the successful case---said:
“The evidence overwhelmingly showed an enterprise that embraced safety crimes as a business strategy. It was reprehensible, and the jury saw it for…
cmonforton | November 20, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its seventh week. The jurors listened to the prosecution’s 27th (and final witness) and heard the defense team rest its case. Thanks to the reporting from the federal courthouse in Charleston, WV by Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert of the Charleston Gazette, I can share some of my favorite quotes from the week.
The week started with a bang when Blankenship’s lead defense attorney--without calling a single witnesses--- announced: “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense rests.”
Ward talked with legal scholars to shed…
cmonforton | November 13, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its sixth week. Jurors heard from a financial expert and an FBI special agent. Thanks to the reporting from the federal courthouse by Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert of the Charleston Gazette, I can share some of my favorite quotes from the week.
The prosecution called Frank Torchio, an expert at analyzing changes in stock prices in response to favorable and unfavorable public information. Torchio examined Massey Energy’s financial performance, in particular, following the April 5, 2010 disaster at the company’s Upper Big…
cmonforton | November 6, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its fifth week. Among others, the jurors heard from a veteran federal mine safety inspector, and a former Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ventilation expert who went to work for Blankenship at Massey Energy following his retirement from the agency.
Thanks to the reporting by the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert, I present some of my favorite quotes from this week’s proceeding in the federal courtroom:
The prosecution put veteran mine safety inspector Harold Hayhurst on the witness stand to…
cmonforton | October 30, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship concluded its fourth week. Chris Blanchard the former president of Massey Energy’s Performance Coal Company was the prosecution's witness for the entire week. The Upper Big Branch mine was part of the Performance Coal Company subsidiary.
The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward Jr. provides updates several times a day from the federal courthouse. This week's featured a sparring match between the prosecution and defense attorneys over and about Blanchard’s testimony. Thanks to Ward’s reporting, I present some of my favorite exchanges from…
cmonforton | October 23, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship went into its third week. Jurors heard testimony from Upper Big Branch (UBB) coal miners Stanley “Goose” Stewart, Richard “Smurf” Hutchens, and Scott Halstead, UBB superintendent Rick Hodge, and MSHA investigator Keith McElroy, among others. At the end of this third week of the trial, the 15 jurors have heard the testimony of 21 witnesses. Thanks to the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Ken Ward Jr. and Joel Ebert, I can select and share some of my favorite quotes from this week's proceedings.
Performance Coal president Chris Blanchard,…
cmonforton | October 16, 2015The second week of the criminal trial against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship continued in Charleston, WV. The US attorneys called eight former employees to the witness stand. They included Blankenship’s executive assistant and five miners who worked at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine just prior to the April 2010 coal dust explosion that killed 29 workers. Transcripts of the trial are not publicly available, but the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. is providing daily recaps direct from the courtroom.
Ward reports, for example, on the testimony of one of the former UBB miners, Brent…
cmonforton | October 10, 2015The criminal trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship began this week in Charleston, WV. The company’s Upper Big Branch mine was the site of the massive coal dust explosion in April 2010 which killed 29 coal miners. The Justice Department’s case against Blankenship involves conspiring to violate mine safety regulations and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the company’s compliance with safety regulations.
The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. and his colleagues have a website dedicated to the Blankenship trial. It offers readers regular…
cmonforton | March 26, 2015I’ll be looking to the Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. to keep me apprised of the upcoming trial of former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. The trial is scheduled to begin on April 20. That's just a few weeks after the 5th anniversary (April 5) of the massive coal dust explosion that killed 29 mine workers at Blankenship’s Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia.
Ward reports this week on Blankenship’s appearance on March 24 before a US magistrate. He plead not guilty (again) to three felony counts, including a conspiracy to thwart federal mine safety inspections. Ward explains…
cmonforton | November 14, 2014US attorney Booth Goodwin II and assistant attorney Steven Ruby announced yesterday a four-count indictment against former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Their four year investigation came following the April 2010 disaster at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) coal mine which killed 29 workers. The miners died in a massive coal dust explosion which could have been averted by following fundamental safety precautions.
Page 1 of the indictment sums up why Blankeship habitually broke mine safety regulations:
“in order to produce more coal, avoid the cost of following safety laws, and make more money…
cmonforton | April 3, 2014You’d think the man responsible for the death of 29 coal miners would show remorse and not subject us to his opinions. Nope. That’s not what we should ever expect from Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy.
Four years ago this coming Saturday, April 5, will mark the 4th anniversary of the coal dust explosion that killed 29 workers at the Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine. Blankenship thinks it is appropriate to mark the anniversary with his propaganda. Blankenship hired Adroit Films of Chesapeake, VA to produce a documentary called “Upper Big Branch – Never Again.” It…
cmonforton | April 5, 2012"When the world came to an end" is how Joshua Williams described being inside the Upper Big Branch coal mine at 3:02 pm on April 5, 2010. He knew several crews of coal miners were much deeper inside the dark tunnels than he. An ominous feeling. Coal dust explosions are powerful and deadly. Eight days later, after all the worker-victims were removed from the mine, the death toll was 29.
What's happened in the two years since the disaster? Here's a brief recap:
Eighty-four mine workers at other U.S. mining operations have been killed on-the-job since the April 2010 Upper Big Branch…