Former Massey Energy CEO, Don Blankenship, could face up to 30 years in prison. (Image: Screenshot via YouTube)
The defence of ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, the man once known as West Virginia’s ‘King of Coal,’ and that now faces charges of conspiring to break mine safety laws at Upper Big Branch Mine, rested their case Monday without calling any witnesses in the high-profile trial.
The announcement by Blankenship’s lead attorney, Bill Taylor, came shortly after the prosecutors finished weeks of interrogations, AP reports.
Lawyers have been asserting claims that the former CEO put dollars ahead of human safety in the years before the deadly 2010 accident at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, considered the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in four decades.
The prosecution contends that while publicly proclaiming safety to be his company’s number one priority, Blankenship repeatedly denied requests to equip his mines with necessary equipment and then lied to federal investigators about it.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), said the tragedy was the result of an accumulation of gas ignited by a spark that came off a piece of shearing equipment, which is used to cut through a long section of wall to get at the coal seam.
But according to the federal government, and to the state’s own independent investigation of the mine after the fact, “virtually everything that could have gone wrong in this situation did go wrong,” writes Tim Murphy, who recently profiled Blankenship in Mother Jones.
The Governor’s Independent Investigation Panel report backs Murphy up, as it says that the explosion was the result of failures of basic safety systems identified and codified to protect the lives of miners.
Blankenship, who insists he is innocent and the victim of government and media excesses, could face up to 30 years in prison.
The Upper Big Branch mine explosion killed 29 men.
6 Comments
Wade Smith
One would think that mining.com would have someone at least familiar with mining write this article; sadly, this doesn’t appear to be the case. What’s even worse is that they base their blurb on a hopelessly biased hatchet job by Mother Jones – a leftwing site; not to mention the biased report from the state. Anyone who has ever worked in the coal industry in West Virginia knows that the state and federal agencies ALWAYS went out of their way to attack Massey, as they were the largest NON-UNION mining company in the state, and Mr. Blankenship was very vocal in his support of the right, and his opposition to unions. As with everything else in this administration, this is all about politics.
snuffy
“virtually everything that could have gone wrong in this situation did go wrong”
This is a really important story. If these are the words of a federal government official or the state’s independent investigator then they should be printed on Mining.com between quotes and attributed to a specific person. That allows readers to judge the source.
MINING.com Editors
The sentence was, indeed, attributed to the source. It says “writes Tim Murphy, who recently profiled Blankenship in Mother Jones.” It also includes a link to his article.
I’ve added quotations for extra clarity.
Best regards,
Cecilia Jamasmie
johnrolce
Are you his cousin?
Wade Smith
No, and for the record, I’m not a cheerleader, either; but this is a poorly written article, using biased sources.
freshair
Does the enforcement of state and federal mining laws protect miners and communities? Twenty-nine deaths later establish a definite reason for careful evaluation of the current mining rules and how they are monitored. Coalfield communities and the miner residents pay dearly for the extraction of coal. They should at least have safety considerations and a healthful existence guaranteed.