Anglo American sells coal assets to Peabody for $3.8bn
The move is the first of four big asset divestments Anglo announced in May, after it fought off a $49bn hostile takeover attempt from BHP.
Ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who served a one-year prison term on charges related to the deadliest US mine disaster, is now officially running for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia.
Blankenship kicked off his campaign Thursday night with a town hall meeting for voters in which he vowed to support President Donald Trump’s pro-coal stance with “actions.”
Blankenship kicked off his campaign Thursday night with a town hall meeting for voters in Logan, West Virginia.
An audience of more than 100 people clapped heartily during his speech, the Associated Press reported, though one man whose son died in the 2010 tragedy said Blankenship’s move brings bitter memories for his family, and called it “a slap in the face.”
The 67-year-old was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in 2016 on one misdemeanour count following a five-year investigation into an explosion at Massey’s UBB Mine, which killed 29 people. In addition to time in jail for conspiring to wilfully violate mine safety standards, Blankenship was fined $250,000.
He was released from a California-based federal prison last year and is presently serving a one-year of supervised release scheduled to end on May 9 — one day after West Virginia’s Senate primary.
The former coal boss has been a long-time critic of the democrat senator for the state, Joe Manchin, who’s seeking re-election.
In the Republican primary, Blankenship — who at one point declared himself an “American political prisoner” — will square off against U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
After the 2010 fatal explosion, Massey Energy was acquired by Alpha Natural Resources, which later filed for bankruptcy. As a result, many of Alpha’s assets, including safety facilities built as a result of settling legal matters regarding the incident, were transferred to Contura Energy.
3 Comments
Restless Boomers
Glad to see Don Blankenship will be trying to unseat Joe Manchin. Manchin has been a disaster for WV and our nation and needs to be retired. Best wishes Don!
Terry
I thought convicted criminals could not run for federal office? Not that it makes much difference with the current lineup in the government, but it is still surprising.
Candice Burton
I find it fundamentally disturbing that a man who couldn’t even recall the number of workers who died in his operations during his reign is running for a position where he presumes to represent the people of America.