Massey Mines Issued 80 Citations For Safety Violations In February

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Massey Energy Co. has been hit with more than 80 citations for safety violations uncovered in the latest round of special inspections by federal regulators.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration said Monday that the Massey citations are among 166 issued at eight mines in five states during special inspections in February.

The agency started the so-called impact inspections after 29 miners were killed in an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia on April 5, 2010.

Four Massey mines in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky accounted for more than half the violations issued nationally during impact inspections last month. MSHA also cited mines in Alabama and Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for Virginia-based Massey had no immediate comment. The company is being bought by rival Alpha Natural Resources.

Comments

[Kenz300]

09:29 PM on 04/06/2011

They will probably have to raise their campaign contributions to Republicans now.

[ThomasPaine1776]

12:28 AM on 03/31/2011

There shouldn't BE a "Massey Mine".

NATIONALIZE all energy corporations.

[modrocker]

07:35 AM on 03/30/2011

I guess now that Mitch McConnell's wife isn't Secretary of Labor anymore the mine owners can't call Mitch to run interference for them. He could always make those safety violations disappear into thin air or at least make any fines not run more than a thousand dollars or two. Mitch McConnell: The Mine Owners Best Friend. Mitch McConnell: Enemy of the Working Class. Mitch McConnell: Blood on his Corrupt Hands.

[skylover]

10:41 AM on 03/30/2011

Fanned

[Uncle Bill]

09:38 PM on 03/29/2011

I'm waiting for Massey to actually be forced to pay a fine, let alone disgorge the profits they make from breaking the law and snubbing regulations.

[jsgaetano]

06:32 PM on 03/29/2011

So how much prison time are Massey executives looking at?

[pbjack]

04:00 AM on 03/30/2011

None. As always

[dongarb]

05:33 PM on 03/29/2011

Feels weird to read a story about bad corporations getting in trouble with regulators. Does that even happen anymore? Was Massey late making their payments or something?

[Mary1943]

02:43 PM on 03/29/2011

Massey bought out the mine my husband worked at for 26 years as an underground, UNION, coal miner. They closed that mine down within 2 years and in order to finish out his time to age 62 he was forced to continue to work for Massey. There are only a couple of UNION mines left here where I live and they weren't hiring...so he was stuck at his age. The Union mine he worked at was a good place to work. Massey....hell doesn't describe it. They could care less about the miners. Unions are important to all workers, but for some reason many, many workers don't get it. If you want to support workers rights sign petitions like the one on www.readersupportednews.com, or join www.workingamerican.org or www.usuncut.org.

[cmr11]

03:44 PM on 03/29/2011

but after the rest of the miners saw what happened at this mine they still haven't organized, i just don't get it. i am sorry to hear your husband didn't get to finish his time in a union mine.

[Mary1943]

04:02 PM on 03/29/2011

Here in the coalfields Massey was the worse and largest, Union busting, coal operator, so what they did was hire young men right after highschool graduation or right after college graduation. The money and benefit packages were great and still are, but then they brainwashed them that the Union was bad. They stayed with Massey and became foremen, superintendents and officers and thought that everything Massey taught them about coal mining was the truth. If you notice all the ones caught breaking the laws and going to prison are the underlings, not the big guys. They knew better than to actually commit the crimes they just told their gophers to do it and they never put it in writing.
The worse thing that happened was the coal operators convinced these men to vote Republican because they wanted even more deregulation of MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) and they got it. Bush and the Republican led Congress deregulated a lot of the laws. You won't find this info in the MSM. But it on the books and in our local papers.

[jsgaetano]

06:34 PM on 03/29/2011

It's because the far right has spent millions of dollars indoctrinating people into conservative ideology, where they're taught to hate anyone that looks out for their own best interests, and worship the top 2%.

[Norther]

02:16 PM on 03/29/2011

The Owner of Massey thinks he will get off by retiring,He Should have to face the music

[wolshdog]

01:58 PM on 03/29/2011

What I don't understand is that mines in the United States are often allowed to continue operating despite safety violations. They are given citations, and the company is given a certain period of time to fix things.

I think they should be closed immediately when safety issues arise, and only be open when they can comply with safety standards. Protect the workers, they don't have a fun job... but at this point in time someone needs to do it.

[trumphent]

11:58 AM on 04/04/2011

The regulators themselves are a major component of the problem. It was revealed just how weak, ineffective and corrupt the system is by the investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The regulators come from the industry they regulate and return to it. Classic fox/henhouse.

[Aries Warrior]

09:54 AM on 03/29/2011

Jay Rockefeller, the billionaire senator from WVa., does nothing about this.

[FireSong]

02:39 AM on 03/29/2011

I lived in that area at the time, and was an EMT; I worked that disaster. It was terrible, and the company was all about fixing the problems right after it happened. Almost a year later, they're still getting cited for safety problems and it really doesn't surprise me one bit. Big coal, like big oil or any other large corporation, does not in any way give a damn about its employees or safety regulations. Expecting them to is idealistic.

[Peace Walker]

03:09 AM on 03/29/2011

Thank you for sharing your experiences. F & F. Now it is up to us to demand regulation, enforcement etc.

[bcmom]

11:29 PM on 03/28/2011

Why are these mines still open???????

[Peace Walker]

03:11 AM on 03/29/2011

Because for the communities of the people working in them, livelihoods are more important than lives, and just try union organizing in mining industries.

[April22]

07:30 PM on 03/28/2011

Alpha Natrual Resources, Inc. the third-biggest US coal producer, is buying Massey Energy Co for about $7.1 billion in cash and stock, gaining the largest coal company in the US Central Appaliachain region.

Alpha Natural will own 54% and Massey will own 46%.

There's big money to be made in coal.

[Max Shelby]

09:58 PM on 03/28/2011

ANR is under the big top of Natural Resource Partners.

They lease the land to be mined to companies like Massey under a lease royalty agreement and work actively with their lessees to increase production.

Get the picture?

CBS 13 WOWK
"All the Coal None of the Hassle"
http://goo.gl/rvljV

[Concerned Citizen in CA]

06:52 PM on 03/28/2011

What usually happens in things like this is that any fines are small in comparison to the financial gains the company realizes from not implementing safety changes. No expenditure to satisfy safety regulations means nothing taken away from the bottom line. Add in tax breaks, and it's business as usual. I expect nothing different from Massey.

[offred]

06:47 PM on 03/28/2011

Perfect hell for Don Blankenship:

Mining coal under a union-busting wrong-wing company owner.

[skylover]

10:42 AM on 03/30/2011

Yup.

Fanned and faved