Don Blankenship On Mine Disaster (VIDEO): 'We Don't Really Know What To Say About It'

ABC's Diane Sawyer grilled Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship on Tuesday on his company's coal mine disaster, asking whether the West Virginia mine explosion that left 25 dead and four missing was "preventable by definition." The answers, however, are more like questions themselves.

"Could you have prevented it?" Sawyer asked. "Was there anything you could have done?"

"Not that we know of cause we don't even yet know what happened," Blankenship responded. "Once we know what happened we'll know whether it was preventable."

Sawyer points out that the mine has had citations and incidents in the past that are above the norm, all of which should have prompted a closer look at safety regulations by Massey. But Blankenship does not indicate having taken any measures to step up safety after these incidents. Visibly uncomfortable, he acknowledges that the mine has had more incidents, but again sidesteps, saying this was the first accident with fatalities, that they're not sure what happened yet, and "we don't really know what to say about it."

WATCH the full interview:

Comments

[maxwells]

11:58 PM on 04/22/2010

"You don't know what to say about it..." ?

Well, stay the course, BIG DON. Just say it again...

"Mine safety regulations are as silly as global warming!"

Make it your mantra.

[heariam]

12:22 AM on 04/10/2010

McConnell's wife is employed by the ones that it is their job to oversee the safety of the mine that just killed 25 and possibly 4 more men. During one of their recent fines for bad conditions at this mine she got the fine knocked down to almost nothing then Blankenship gave 100K to McConnell's campaign . I may not have all the details straight about this but I just read it here on HuffPo in another article..... All of this has unnerved me and bothered me more than I would have thought. This is probably why I can't remember all of the details. I encourage everyone to read all of the articles here and on all the links provided by others and no this site.
We all need to email, write, call our elected officials and get our voice heard about this and do our best to get better regulations and have better ways to make them enforce all of the rules in a very short period of time instead of them having a out by dragging every infraction through the courts for years to delay fixing any problems in the mines...
Lets all do our part.... something has to be done....

[alvdh1]

11:38 AM on 04/09/2010

That's because Massey only does what it takes to pay the bills. Mine safety is an expense that doesn't pay the bills. Therefore, there is always another miner to replace a fallen miner who in turn puts his life at risk to pay the bills. We can eliminate every coal fired power plant in America through energy efficiency and energy conservation.

[Patchdee]

08:23 AM on 04/09/2010

Blankenship was a speaker at Tea Party rallies. He railed against big corporations who give money to liberal politicians. He presented himself as a 'man of the people', someone who doesn't play golf with politicians. What a joke!
So, what is Faux News saying now? He is one of theirs. Is Faux News defending him or pretending that they never heard of him? When are the people who follow Faux News going to realize that they are being had? Yeah, Blankenship - a hero to the Extreme Right because he is against big government and government regulation. A true defender of Free Enterprise and Individual Freedom - it makes me sick!

[maslin]

05:28 AM on 04/09/2010

How about "I'm sorry that lives were less important to me than profits," Mr Blankenship?

[yep yep]

04:24 PM on 04/08/2010

the event exposes the problems of using coal as an energy source it's the life cycle of the fuel not just the fuel becoming harnessed for electricity. So although we are trying to move away from coal here we still let coal companies pay off politicians here while granting loans for other nations to develop coal powered plants. doesn't make sense does it?

http://envirogy.wordpress.com/

[drumz]

01:58 PM on 04/08/2010

Since corporations are now people I say throw him on jail and charge him with murder. I think more CEO's need to do jail time. I mean they're the big front line guys taking all the risks so why not make it risky for them instead of their companies and employees?

[Hoosierbrad]

09:36 AM on 04/08/2010

I know what to say Mr. Blankenship. You value profit over the lives of your employees, plain and simple.

[knosiswar]

09:34 AM on 04/08/2010

It's strange to me that Republicans are comfortable wearing the badge of MURDERER. Why do republicans value other peoples lives so very little.

[Pjbf]

09:33 AM on 04/08/2010

Let the whitewash begin: The simulated animation employed to accompanying news broadcasts of the disaster displays the mine interior, albeit rendered in computer animation, suggesting the business of mineral extraction as a clean and tidy affair. All the mine walls turn at right angles, as if in an art gallery. The mine wall surfaces sparkle brilliantly and appear dust free. The model of the “safe room” suggests the fresh and pristine ambiance of a Krispy Kreme® outlet. A literal whitewash of a very black place, certainly the visual fabricator could have been just a bit more realistic by employing a modicum of the smudge tool from their extensive pallet of rendering options.

[worlhood]

09:13 AM on 04/08/2010

This is a terrible event. We do need good coal mining and already have great coal miners. We need good leadership in the coal mining business. Don Blankenship is not that person. Massey CEO, Don Blankenship, has as sordid of a history as any contemporary business leader including election rigging, court rigging, massive safety violations and uncountable pollution violations. In his many rants on what's wrong with America, his strong theme is hatred of government...the very government we need to protect our citizens and workers from power abusers like him. He has a long history of abusing power and wealth to the detriment of those around him. Not coincidently, he is a major funder of the Tea Party movement. He gave them over $1m last year. The Tea Party is the perfect flock for him to guide to lay the ground for more of his dirty work.

[smileylib]

07:13 AM on 04/08/2010

Now that the SCOTUS has defined corporations as having the same rights as individuals, don't responsibilities also come with those rights? Therefore, Blakenship and the entire Board of Directors of Massey need to be criminally charged and possibly thrown in jail. Practice what you preach!

[knosiswar]

09:36 AM on 04/08/2010

YES, ABSO F'n LUTELY!

At the very least, all top management are guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and negligent homicide.

[lightningbolt]

07:04 AM on 04/08/2010

The executives of this mine need to be arrested for murder.

[realpolitic]

04:21 AM on 04/08/2010

The philosophy of the Massey Mining Co. is to fight whatever government fines they receive for their safety infractions and make no improvements whatsoever, but to push for greater coal extraction. It values profits over human life and is a despicable way to do business. Government should not just be fine, but if general conditions in the mine are not found to be improving the fines should grow substantially and criminal penalties should be considered.

[magibrotherhood]

02:44 AM on 04/08/2010

Look into this dude`s eyes....nothing there but dollar signs.