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That'll certainly be some "Labor Day Wango Tango1" if God decides to send a three and a half story high wave of sludge roaring down the hollow just as Don Blankenship introduces the most upper of upper crust Lord Christopher Monckton, Third Viscount of Brenchley to one of the poorest areas in the United States.2. But it wouldn't be the first time God drowned a bunch of folks in Southern WV coal sludge.
Although Blankncheck hasn't warned anyone pre-registering to attend his "I HEART COAL" fest3, folks planning to go really should be made aware that there are more coal sludge impoundment dams per square mile around this doodah than anywhere else in the US.
Just one of the many nearby toxic sites holds an incredible 4.74 billion gallons of deadly slime soup behind a 345 ft. high dirt wall. By comparison, that's quadruple the amount of muck released in Tennessee's giant TVA spill not so long ago. The amount of toxic sludge spilld across Tennessee was reportedly 100 times larger than the famous Exxon Valdez disaster! According to the Coal Impoundment Location and Information System website4 there are absolutely NO evacuation plans filed with the state of WV, or with either of the counties of Mingo or Logan for an event the size of the one planned by Blankenship and his pals. NONE. Nor are there any instructions to the public on Blankenstein's spiffy "Friends of America" website warning folks of the imminent dangers. So good luck to all those Ted "Crusty Pants" Nugent fans when he starts machine gunning the crowd to clear them out of HIS way even as they trample each other to keep from drowning in liquified mercury, lead, arsenic, and selenium.
One more thing. While friendsofamericarally.com website advises everyone pre-registering to bring a lawn chair, do NOT plan to sit directly or go barefoot on any reclaimed site. The chemicals sprayed across reclaimed quarry topsoil in an attempt to force it to be "green" can be both caustic AND toxic.
The widows of two men killed in a 2006 coal mine fire in West Virginia have settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Massey Energy Co.
[snip]
The widows of miners 33-year-old Don I. Bragg and 47-year-old Ellery Elvis Hatfield had sued Richmond, Va.-based Massey, two subsidiaries and CEO Don Blankenship.
The article is vague on one minor point. Assuming the trial has ended, it's likely a safe guess the widows also settled (or dropped) any separate claims against the subsidiaries and CEO Don Blankenship as part of the settlement with the parent company Massey Energy.
Initial testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit over a fatal 2006 coal mine fire is focusing on a state investigation that blamed a Massey Energy Co. subsidiary.
West Virginia state mine inspector Eugene White guided jurors Wednesday morning through the state investigation of the Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine fire in Logan County.
Forty-six-year-old Ellery Elvis Hatfield and 33-year-old Don Bragg died after getting lost in thick smoke at the mine.
Miners Steve Hensley and Mike Shull told jurors their crew ran into a wall of smoke as they tried to evacuate through the primary escape tunnel at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in Logan County. Co-workers Ellery Elvis Hatfield, 46, and Don Bragg, 33, died after getting separated from their crew in what Hensley and Shull called zero-visibility conditions and failing to feel their way to an alternate escape route.
[snip]
"It was like you turned out the light,'' said Hensley, who was driving the 12-man crew's vehicle out of the mine. The crew got out of the vehicle and were donning emergency air packs, when Hensley heard Hatfield struggle with the device.
"The last words I heard Elvis Hatfield say was, 'How do you put this thing on?''' said Hensley, adding that he presumed Hatfield succeeded because he stopped asking for help.
Another Don Blankenship Sideshow
You know how Don Blankenship loves those lawsuits. Ken Ward, Jr., raised the ire of Massey Energy this week when he reported on their latest one.
Admittedly, this sideshow (Massey suing its liability insurance company) is further in the weeds than I want to jump today. Still, I'll leave you with this final note.
To truly understand the magnitude of Don Blankenship's problem, jump to the very last paragraph of Ward's story:
At the same time, the outcome of an ongoing federal criminal probe could be used by the insurance company to try to avoid paying anything if Massey reaches a plea deal with prosecutors.
Elections have consequences. Do you think Don Blankenship welcomes bringing an end to political prioritization of federal criminal probes?
Following up on Dan Heyman's excellent diary yesterday, here's news from Ken Ward Jr. about the start of the Aracoma wrongful death trail in Logan County:
Massey Energy neglected to repair a failing conveyor belt system and did not replace a crucial ventilation wall prior to a January 2006 fire that killed two miners, a Logan County jury was told Monday.
Massey President Don Blankenship is personally to blame for the deaths because he emphasized increasing coal production over proper safety precautions, a lawyer for the two miners' widows also told jurors.
"They were just going to work, trying to earn a living for their families," said Bruce Stanley, lawyer for the widows of miners Don Bragg and Ellery Hatfield.
Attorneys for Blankenship, Massey and subsidiary Aracoma Coal Co. called the deaths at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine "a tragedy," but urged jurors not to blame Blankenship or the companies.
"There is no question there were mistakes, but there is also no question that those mistakes were not Don Blankenship's," said Tom Flaherty, a lawyer for Blankenship.
The lawyers clashed Monday afternoon during about three hours of opening arguments in a packed courtroom at the Logan County Courthouse, in a wrongful-death case filed over the high-profile fatal mine fire nearly three years ago.
This trial is one of those not-so-common instances where not only is a corporation on trial, but individuals running the corporation--Don Blankenship, in this case--are also on trial.
The Anne Barth for Congress (WV-02) headquarters received a email from a disgruntled voter in Logan County this morning.
I went to vote for Mrs. Barth at the central city voting location in Logan county. Mrs Barth name was not on my ballot nor was that devil she is running against.
I went through it 6 times to find her name but I never saw it. Just passing along the troubhle I had. I hope Mrs. Barth wins she will have my support in the future as well.
We would report this problem to the Secretary of State's office except Logan County is ably represented by Nick Rahall in WV-03.
It's 10:27 p.m. and I just fired up the computer. We began at 8 a.m. and traveled 300 miles. I took close to 100 photos. Here's some and I'll have more tomorrow. Video should be up tomorrow. I'll post much more tomorrow.
Opening press conference in Charleston
United Mine Workers of America at the Lincoln County press conference Veterans Memorial 9:15 a.m.
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
10:15 a.m. Boone County Democratic Rally, Danville.
12 p.m. Logan Democratic Rally, Logan Mall
1:30 p.m. Williamson Democratic Rally, Williamson Fire Hall
Democratic cheerleaders
State Auditor Glen Gainer
Audience at Logan
...
Office is closing so I'll post more tomorrow.
...
Update
Welcome Politco readers.
More photos here and photos and event details here.
The Charleston Gazette covered the rally to press for hate crime charges against those accused of torturing and assaulting Megan Williams in Logan County.
The march divided the community over whether it was the best way to focus attention to her case.
Black and white residents of Logan County came together last night in a vigil calling for healing, justice, and freedom from fear. The event was organized by the American Friends Service Committee and the Logan County Improvement League, a largely African-American organization.
Last month, the Rev. Johnny Meade, pastor of Church of God in the Name of Christ Jesus in Big Creek, offered the use of his church for an interracial service. The Big Creek area of Logan County is all white and the church is about 9/10 of a mile from the scene where police say Megan Williams' ordeal occured.
Around 40 people attended the event, which featured singing, brief comments, prayer, and lighting candles. It was heavily covered by just about all the media in the area.
Given all the state and national media attention on the area in the wake of the crime, local residents wanted to send their own positive message.
Since I know lots of people have been following the Megan Williams story, and since there seems to be some confusion about what constitutes a hate crime in West Virginia, I figured I'd write up a little primer on West Virginia's hate crime statute. Media reports have latched onto the fact that the victim knew at least one of the six people in custody, as if that negates the possibility that this was a hate crime. It doesn't.
Be sure to read the comments, too. They start to get at an important related question--is existing hate crime legislation properly interpreted or do we need further legislative action?
I was going to write my first diary on how we Dems need to reach out to my fellow WV evangelicals and Pentecostals in 2008 because they put Bush over the top in 2000 and again carried WV for the Republicans again in 2004. But the Lord - yes I do believe in Jesus - told me to do it on one of the most if not the very most destructive floods in WV and even US history. the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood. I was not quite 2 years old when that terrible even took place.
And by the way Jesus is not pleased with George W. Bush and the Republican Party. Now if we could just convince my fellow evangelical friends to see that. Had to add that in.
Now back to the topic at hand....
The constant threat of flooding is at times a daily fact of life here in the WV coalfields. I myself was flooded out in the July 8, 2001 flood and literally came within an inch of being flooded out a second time. Just little over a month ago on April 16 and 17 most of Logan, Mingo, and Wyoming Counties were under water. My home county of McDowell really was unscathed thank God except for a tiny few places in the Panther and Bradshaw area. 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in I think a 12 to 18 hour period. Here where I lived we got 3 inches.
And the strange thing about that was the fact that the creek beside my house was as bone dry as I have ever seen it before that heavy rain hit us. After all that rain the creek was literally within one inch of spilling out of its banks. If the ground had been just a little more saturated the destruction would have even been much worse. It was horrible even at that. But I saw that even the July 8, 2001, May 2, 2002, and April 16, 2007 floods were child's play compared to the 1972 Buffalo Creek Flood.
121 confirmed dead. 7 never accounted for. 1121 confirmed injured. 1000 homes destroyed. 4000 out of the town of 5000 then named Saunders left homeless. Yes 80 percent believe it or not! Millions and millions of dollars of property damage.
And the sad thing about it is it all could have been prevented if Pittston and the federal government had warned the people to evacuate in time and before that devastating flood had repaired the broken dam in the first place.
International Workers' Day Event Highlights Threat to Historic Site
CHARLESTON, WV - On Tuesday, May 1 at 12pm noon, Logan County residents, labor historians and concerned citizens will hold a press conference and rally to support workers' rights and the historic designation of Blair Mountain.
As people around the world celebrate International Workers' Day, local residents will gather at the lower Rotunda of the State Capitol to honor those who fought at Blair Mountain, one of the most important labor historic sites in West Virginia, if not the nation. More than 80 years ago on Blair Mountain, 10,000 coal miners rose up against armed federal troops in defense of their rights to unionize.
Today, another battle is being fought there - the battle to save the historic site. On April 21, the West Virginia Labor History Association (WVLHA) voted unanimously to support preservation of Blair Mountain. With upcoming decisions pending on the fate of Blair Mountain and the rights of the workers, this event will honor miners for their service and remember the historic site.
WHO: Local residents, The WVLHA, community groups and the Sierra Club
WHAT: International Workers' Day celebration of labor and Blair Mountain, including speeches and stories
WHEN: Tuesday, May 1, 2007, 12pm noon
WHERE: Lower Rotunda, WV State Capitol Building, Charleston WV
Great Visuals:
Historic artifacts from Blair Mountain.
Maps showing the battle lines.
Pictures of Bill Blizzard, leader of the miners.
Pictures of Blair Mountain today.
Music from the "When Miners March" CD
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