Massey, MSHA being investigated by the FBI?

I wonder. I'm betting MSHA czar Joe Main requested the FBI to investigate MSHA inspectors. (4.00 / 4)

Let's not forget that President Obama appointed longtime UMWA safety director Joe Main to run MSHA. On the other hand,

President Bush's appointed head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, David Lauriski, resigned his position citing family reasons. His resignation came shortly after a Labor Department Inspector General report confirmed a CBS "60 Minutes" report that under his direction the agency had improperly awarded no-bid, single-source contracts. Two of those companies had ties to Lauriski and one of his assistants.

But Lauriski is best remembered at MSHA for his attempt to push through a change in regulations governing coal dust levels that he proposed and lobbied on behalf of as a senior executive with Energy West Mining Company of Utah. Since the change uniquely benefited only his former employer, it was opposed by not only the Mine Workers but also mine operators other than Energy West. Lauriski was able to side with the other mine operators on a host of other regulatory changes detrimental to worker safety. According to the New York Times, MSHA under his direction

"rescinded more than a half-dozen proposals intended to make coal miners' jobs safer, including steps to limit miners' exposure to toxic chemicals. One rule pushed by the agency would make it easier for companies to use diesel generators underground, which miners say could increase the risk of fire." source

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by: One Citizen @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 12:06:48 PM CDT

And yes, a former Bush-appointed US Mine Safety Commissioner is on the Board of a repeat violator of safety regulations that are under constant appeal. (4.00 / 4)

From the Orange Kosmosis:

   STANLEY C. SUBOLESKI, Commissioner
   Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
   601 New Jersey Ave. NW, Suite 9500
   Washington, D.C. 20001
   (202) 434-9921

   EDUCATION

        Penn State, Mining Engineering (Ph.D) 1978
        Virginia Tech, Mining Engineering (M.S.) 1968
        Penn State, Mining Engineering (B.S.) 1963

   PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

        June 2003
        to present Commissioner
        Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

        2001-2003   Massey Energy Company
        Executive Vice President and Interim Chief Operating Officer

        2000-2001 Consulting Mining Engineer

        1998-2000 Virginia Tech
        Professor and Head, Department of Mining Engineering

        1993-1997 A.T. Massey Coal Co. (now Massey Energy)
        President, United Coal Co. subsidiary
        Vice President Operations Strategy
        Vice President Norfolk Southern Operations

        1988-1993 Penn State University
        Chairman, Mining Engineering Section
        Centennial Professor of Mining Engineering

        1981-1988 A.T. Massey Coal Company
        Vice President Mining Development
        Treasurer

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by: One Citizen @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 12:18:25 PM CDT

Wow (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for those links blonde moment and one citizen.

That's a major game-changer. If bribery did indeed occur, it might be a lot easier to follow evidence up the chain of command for bribery than it was for the previous criminal charges that Blankenship avoided.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 14:22:11 PM CDT

Important update (4.00 / 1)

More at Coal Tattoo... definitely an FBI investigation, but the MSHA bribery part is not confirmed by anyone else:

My sources are also discounting the part of the NPR story concerning a bribery investigation. I'm told that just isn't true.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 14:25:39 PM CDT

Hoppy tweeted this early. Wonder why? At least Ken had both parts and has updated (0.00 / 0)

NPR is sticking with their story
I wrote DevilsTower at kdos an email  
I hate to see this above the fold here.

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

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by: CA Berkeley WV @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 15:08:59 PM CDT

you have the power (0.00 / 0)

add an update.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 15:23:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What do you hate above the fold? (0.00 / 0)

The NPR allegation about a bribery investigation? They're sticking to it, at the moment. And I made a point of eschewing editorial comment, precisely because it's their story, not mine.

But if you want, I can see if it can be amended.

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by: blonde moment @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 15:25:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

fwiw (0.00 / 0)

To make a "pretty link" the easiest way is to use the "[" and "]" characters. Put an open bracket, then the URL, then the anchor text, then the close bracket. It will auto-magically turn into a URL (assuming you have the Formatting mode of AUTO_FORMAT selected in the little drop-down menu at the bottom of the comment selection area.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 16:10:24 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

fwiw #2 (0.00 / 0)

I'm fine with the diary as is for all the reasons you state.

If NPR retracts the story, I'd probably step in myself and make an update, but until then I don't think it is as clear cut... I don't think it's as critical to note "above the fold" that the story is unconfirmed elsewhere though OTOH, if someone took the time to update the diary with that info, I'd be fine with that, too.

But, that's just my two cents. This is a community site and I think it's good for us to have a community discussion about what we think our content standards ought to be.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 16:14:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I know this is what NPR is reporting and sticking to. It's not you. (0.00 / 0)

The fact that Hoppy pushed without any mention of

Reuters story - Massey faces criminal probe for mine blast: sources

"We are aware that investigators are interviewing witnesses, but are not aware of the nature of their investigation," the company said in a statement. "We intend to cooperate in all phases of the accident investigation."

The fact it could be Bush people, and true, but that this administration will suffer for it, the fact that people forget the Bush veto crayon threat and that the Miner Act after Sago could have been better, etc.

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

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by: CA Berkeley WV @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 17:59:26 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

downside of story (0.00 / 0)

The downside of a story like this is if/when it is used to discredit MSHA and government regulation.

The Bush administration and his era of the republican party (see: Grover Norquist) do not believe that government can be a force for good for the average person. They set out to prove it by running government in a way that enriched their buddies and screwed over everyone else.

Thus, the rise of single source contracts, record levels of outsourcing, and politicization of agencies previously known for sound policy and science.

Some will use any story of regulatory ineptitude, like SEC porn watching during Bush era, to tar the entire enterprise of government regulation.

It is up to us to remind others at every turn that when you put people in charge of government who do not believe that government can work, it doesn't.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 18:52:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Clem you forgot (4.00 / 1)

the cocaine and the hookers up in Alaska during Bush...Dept of Interior I think...some kind of inspectors got caught having to do with Oil and Gas, bribing the inspectors by the companies being regulated. Remember that one?

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by: JBdem4usa @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 20:48:31 PM CDT

It was the Minerals Management Service (4.00 / 2)

From EnviroWonk, September 2008:

As Interior IG Earl E. Devaney put it, the investigations reveal a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" by a small group of individuals "wholly lacking in acceptance of or adherence to government ethical standards."

As the reports detailed, MMS party central was located at the agency's Royalty-in-Kind office in Denver, which according to the AP, is responsible for marketing the oil and gas that energy companies barter to the government instead of making cash royalty payments for drilling on federal lands. Last year, the office collected about $4.3 billion worth of oil from those companies.

According to the inspector general, more than a third of the office's 55 employees received gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies between 2002 and 2006. The companies paid for MMS employees to attend football and baseball games, PGA Tour events, Colorado ski trips, paintball outings and "treasure hunts," investigators found.

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by: blonde moment @ Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 21:56:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

blondie (0.00 / 0)

you fergot the hookers and the coke, that was the sexy part and the one that got MY attention for sure...WVBlue readers need to know the sexy stuff too, that's what keeps us coming back for more...C street makes me high

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by: JBdem4usa @ Sat May 01, 2010 at 16:09:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Apparetly UBB/Massey was under two previous investigations back in 2009 (0.00 / 0)

Link to update and flashback article

Previously released MSHA documents showed that two "special investigations" were launched in 2009 concerning the UBB mine. Though, the so-called "preliminary special investigations" are referenced in MSHA records, there was no documentation provided on how these probes --- which generally open criminal investigations --- were closed.

"We are not sharing special investigation data with anybody right now," said Kevin Stricklin, MSHA coal administrator. "That's private," the Charleston Gazette reported.

Contradicting the Massey Energy response that "it is not uncommon" for relevant law enforcement agencies to be involved, Tony Oppegard, a former senior official of MSHA and a former mine safety prosecutor in Kentucky, told NPR that FBI involvement in a mine disaster is "extremely rare. I've never heard of it before." bold italics added for emphasis - oc

The above qu0ted Huntington Network News article not only provides source links, but reveals NPR's primary source about the FBI's possible investigation of Massey and MSHA.

At the end of the article Massey CEO Don Blankenship is quoted as having said, "'Our people know we do not condone anything like that... something of the nature described by National Public Radio would be very serious.'"

One thing our local media hasn't covered is when,

Massey Energy Co.'s (MEE) lead independent director defended the board's oversight of the coal company, fending off criticism that the board failed to police management's handling of safety issues in the period before a deadly explosion this month.

In an effort to calm stockholders reacting to drops in Massey holdings and direct criticism that Blankenship's dual position as chairman and top executive has "severely compromised" the oversight of safety in the mines, Retired Adm. Bobby R. Inman, who is Massey Energy Co.'s lead independent board director reminded concerned stockholders that

Massey's value has grown from $758 million since the company went public in 2000 to about $4.2 billion as of last Friday, and that Chief Executive Don Blankenship has been responsible for much of that growth. SOURCE

psst...

hey blonde moment

Here's my suggestion for a real timesaver if you need to quickly create lots of fancy clickable links like the ones I've provided above. (Also like the far-too-many I posted in my most recent long winded diatribe about Glenn Beck being among the most 100 influential people in the world.

Let's say you that want your link to read "source" instead of merely pasting an exceptionally long url into your WVABLUE entry. Take for instance my NASDAQ link above, which would have stretched 150 characters long if I hadn't chosen to reduce it in a manner similar to Clem's suggestion above.

Here's my shortcut tip which not only can save you keystrokes, but makes it impossible for you to forget exactly how to do it. Once you've successfully typed one out, and tested it using the preview button provided in this forum, simply save a copy of it on your computer's "notepad", then keep to link the note handy on your desktop. That way, if you're doing a diary or blog entry and you need to include lots of clickable source links, just call up the note and paste the appropriate url link into the right place on the notepad. Then copy the whole deal and paste it into your commentary.

It's actually simpler to do it than to describe, or even read about. So in an effort to make the whole process clearer, below is a screenshot of my desktop note time saver linky thing.

You'll notice that on my notepad image, just under the loooong NASDAQ link/source, there's a second version which is meant to illustrate simply and accurately where to paste your link data, thereby magically (and quickly) converting it into one of those embedded linky thingys which appear on the page as SOURCE, instead of http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/sto...

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by: One Citizen @ Sat May 01, 2010 at 06:21:25 AM CDT

FAB-ulous! (0.00 / 0)

Thanks! That's a great suggestion, especially with your observation that I don't have to try to remember the whole structure. My brain's already too cluttered with data!

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by: blonde moment @ Sat May 01, 2010 at 18:32:17 PM CDT

[ Parent ]