45 Deaths Show Massey’s Safety Problems Not Confined to Upper Big Branch

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/04/08/45-deaths-show-masseys-safety-problems-not-confined-to-upper-big-branch/

by Mike Hall, Apr 8, 2010

This week’s disaster at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 25 miners, with four still unaccounted for, means 45 coal miners have died at Massey operations since 2000.

Mine Workers President (UMWA) Cecil Roberts says the “grim statistics that are associated with Massey and the mines under its control,” cannot be ignored.

Every year, like clockwork, at least one person has been killed since 2000 on the property of Massey or one of its subsidiaries….No other coal operator even comes close to that fatality rate during that time frame. That demands a serious and immediate investigation by MSHA and by Congress.

The safety violations at the nonunion mine—more than 450 last year and just last month another 57, including two on the day of the explosion—have been well-chronicled since the deadly blast. Click here, here and here.

But just today, the Charleston Gazette revealed the MSHA inspectors issued 60 orders last year and so far this year to close part or all of the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.

Tony Oppegard, a former MSHA staffer and longtime mine safety lawyer in Kentucky, told the Gazette:

That’s way off the charts. I’ve never heard of that amount of withdrawal orders in that short of a period of time.

Under federal law, MSHA cannot shut down an entire mine without a court injunction, but the withdrawal orders allow MSHA to force mine owners to remove workers from an area until the specific hazard is removed.

The latest information on the Massey mine’s abysmal safety record comes from a document MSHA prepared last week for Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.). But it does not specify the exact violations or when and if they were corrected. President Obama today tasked federal mine safety officials to report next week on their initial assessment of the cause of the nation’s worst coal mining disaster in more than a quarter century and what actions could prevent future tragedies.

Meanwhile, Massey CEO Donald Blankenship—with a long history of anti-union actions to go along with the coal conglomerate’s safety record—is coming under long-needed media spotlight. According to an ABC News profile:

One miner who worked in Massey mines most of his 25-year career said working for CEO Don Blankenship was “like living under a hammer. It’s all about the bottom line, we all know that.” The miner, who would only agree to speak with an ABC News reporter if his name was not used, said Blankenship believes in “stretching the men to the limit and they want every ounce out of the men that they can get.”

FULL story and links in story at link.