Our Greatest Resource
By Senator Robert C. Byrd The recent explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in my home county of Raleigh, which killed 29 West Virginians and injured 2 others, has brought West Virginia statewide sorrow and worldwide attention. Reflecting on President John F. Kennedy’s death, Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Tragedy is a tool [...]
Massey offering families $3 million to settle claims over Upper Big Branch disaster
by Ken Ward Jr. Howard Berkes from National Public Radio is reporting what has been rumored for days now: The owner of the Upper Big Branch Coal Mine in West Virginia, where 29 miners died in a massive explosion April 5, is offering cash settlements to the families of the victims. Three people familiar with [...]
Inspectors: Negligence found at W.Va. mine
WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — Handwritten notes indicate federal safety inspectors found negligence at a West Virginia mine months before an explosion killed 29 miners in early April. Federal safety officials who inspected Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine in January said senior managers displayed “reckless disregard” for worker safety by telling a foreman [...]
MSHA appoints team to investigate Upper Big Branch South Mine explosion
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has appointed a team to investigate the April 5 explosion at the Upper Big Branch South Mine (Performance Coal Co.) in Whitesville, W.Va. “Twenty-five hardworking men died unnecessarily in a mine Monday,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The very best way [...]
Drilling starts in race to save miners
MONTCOAL, W.Va. – A day after a deadly blast killed at least 25 miners, crews on Tuesday began drilling into the underground mine in order to vent dangerous gas and eventually enter in search of four missing miners. But Gov. Joe Manchin said it could be Wednesday afternoon before much progress is made. “I don’t [...]
Who Killed the Miners? Profits over Safety?
By Jeff Biggers All coal mining safety laws have been written in miners’ blood. My grandfather, who barely survived an explosion in a coal mine in southern Illinois, taught me this phrase. He also taught me about the 150-year-old battle in the coalfields over reckless production at the cost of responsible safety measures. As our [...]
7 dead, 19 still missing in W.Va. mine disaster
Emergency vehicles leave the entrance to Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Coal Mine Monday, April 5, 2010 in Montcoal, W.Va. after an explosion at the underground coal mine. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner) by Ken Ward Jr. Here’s the terrible news from Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship: “It is with a heavy heart that Massey Energy confirms [...]
The W.Va. Chamber of Commerce continues its misinformation campaign against Sen. Byrd’s effort to help disabled miners get black lung benefits
Ken Ward Jr. When Coal Tattoo last left our friend Steve Roberts, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce president’s political strategy was that state representatives in Washington should bottle up health-care reform unless President Obama ordered EPA to start approving new mountaintop removal mining permits. Now that health-care reform has passed — a move that [...]
What’s the Matter With Midwestern Democrats and Coal?
By Jeff Biggers What’s the matter with the Democrats in the Midwest and the challenge of coal? Have they turned their backs on the great American pastoral and our devastated coalfield communities and gobbled up the hook-line-and-sinker of Big Coal public relations shams and Big Coal lobby money? Instead of making false promises of more [...]
E. Ky. coal co. lays off 85 at 3 sites
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (AP) — An eastern Kentucky coal company says it has laid off 85 employees at three mine sites. Officials with Miller Brothers Coal LLC told WYMT-TV that the workers in Magoffin, Floyd and Knott counties lost their jobs on Monday and hours were reduced for the more than 200 remaining employees. Officials say [...]
