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There was quite a bit of discussion last week about the NPR report on the Massey Energy FBI probe stemming from the Upper Big Branch mining incident. There was no question (or controversy) as to there being an FBI investigation, the question is whether or not it extended to possible bribery of federal regulators.
Bloomberg published this original reporting by Chris Stratton and Margaret Cronin Fisk yesterday that goes one step further than the earlier NPR story (emphasis mine):
Massey Energy Co., dealing with the death of 29 miners at one of its West Virginia coal mines, is being investigated by the FBI for possible bribery of state and federal inspectors, a person familiar with the probe said.
An April 5 explosion at the Richmond, Virginia-based company's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the deaths and sparked the investigation by the bureau, a second person familiar with the matter said April 30, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
At least two dozen Massey employees, federal and state officials and mine union members have been interviewed by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the first person familiar with the investigation said.
The mine and its operators could be held criminally responsible for the explosion if there were any "overt acts," such as falsification of inspection documents or evidence of tampering with monitors and recording devices, said Bruce Stanley, a Pittsburgh attorney who represents the widows of two miners killed in an earlier incident.
"It's too early to provide any comment at this point," Massey spokesman Roger Hendriksen said in a phone interview today.
Should the FBI interview turn up evidence of criminal conduct, the matter would be referred to the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of West Virginia, the first person said.
With an increasing number of government agencies being implicated in this mining incident, there's even more good reason for the investigation to occur out in the open. As Ken Ward, Jr. recently posted on Facebook:
Still no word from MSHA on making Massey mine disaster investigation public. Call 202-693-9400 to demand transparency.
In past investigations of disasters and even single mining deaths, MSHA allowed coal company lawyers to sit in on interviews with miners, mine managers and government inspectors. So the company knew what was being asked and answered - some believe the company lawyers intimidate witnesses by their very presence. Other times, government ... See Moreinvestigators conveniently skipped questions that probed their own failures of enforcement.
Congress gave MSHA authority to conduct investigations as public hearings, but the agency seldom does so.
Two UBB widows have asked for a public hearing, as has the UMWA and a collection of news organizations, including the Gazette.
A public hearing also gives MSHA subpoena power, something it doesn't otherwise have, to compel people to answer questions.
Wrongful death suits will give families power to get some answers through discovery. But a public hearing is the only way the public will ever find out what really happened.
The Charleston Daily Mail reports on Blankenship's appearance on WOWK's wingnutty "Decision Makers" program:
CHARLESTON, W.Va.--Massey CEO Don Blankenship said in a weekend TV interview that "evil people" have ascended the ranks of power in the United States and implied Sen. Jay Rockefeller was among them.
In an appearance on the WBOY and WOWK show "Decision Makers," Blankenship was asked about the impact of Rockefeller's comments that Massey was a "rogue" operator.
Rockefeller, D-W.Va., was being critical of Massey and Blankenship following the explosion last month at the company's Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29.
In the past, Rockefeller has gone out of his way to regurgitate the War on CoalTM hysteria and attack the Obama administration's environmental protection efforts.
It appears it did little good for him.
A mild defense of the EPA got Rep. Rahall's face printed on Massey-distributed "Nick Joe is anti-coal" signs. Accurately stating the case on mine safety has made Rockefeller fall out of favor with Blankenship.
It's time for Rockefeller and other officials to realize Blankenship will never be satisified with anything less than 100% obedience. The constant attempts to pander to him are just embarrassing.
It's really disappointing to see quotes like this from Luke Popovich of the National Mining Assocation.
Many coal companies didn't seem to suffer financially in Obama's first year: Massey Energy, for instance, recorded a $104 million profit despite the recession. But companies say the new guidelines threaten both companies and mining towns.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a president whose actions have been more warlike on coal. There are those who say the president has parked his tanks on our front lawn, and it's hard to dispute that," said Luke Popovich of the National Mining Association.
Someone might say:
You'd be hard pressed to find a trade association whose rhetoric is more irresponsible. There are those who say the National Mining Association promotes sedition, and it's hard to dispute that.
Some friendly advice, Luke... before you trump up the war-allusions you might want to tally up the body count of coal miners with the members of your National Mining Association.
"Oh Say, did you see him; it was early this morning.
He passed by your houses on his way to the coal.
He was tall, he was slender, and his dark eyes so tender
His occupation was mining, West Virginia his home
It was just before noon, I was feeding the children,
Ben Moseley came running to give us the news.
Number eight was all flooded, many men were in danger
And we don't know their number, but we fear they're all doomed"
- Jean Ritchie
Coal mining is dangerous business and the people of the Appalachian Coalfields, from Tennessee to West Virginia to Pennsylvania, have come to expect disasters out of the mining industry. Mining is a job that's full of risks and packed with hard work. Miners have come to be proud of the work that they do which truly has had a great role in powering the United States for more than the last century. It's been work that's populated Appalachia with amazing people but has kicked up a lot of coal dust in the process all over our great state of West Virginia.
After 9/11, where I was less than 10 miles from the Pentagon and remember hearing fighter jets & helicopters flying over my house throughout that tense night. I never thought I would feel that tragic emotion that brought anger, anticipation, fear, mourning, and pride together into one horrendous stomach ache again. Then came the disaster at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine.
I could not work all week. I could not stop refreshing the WSAZ news page and the Coal Tattoo Blog for updates. I could not get my mind off the basic question of whether there is good in the world where 29 hardworking men are killed because of Massey Energy's disregard for miner safety. I could not get off the phone talking with students I work with and my own family members who were grieving like I was for these men and holding out hope that the four "missing miners" would be found alive. They were not. And we continued to mourn through the weekend.
The Interior Department is writing new regulations for mountaintop-removal coal mining that would expand protection for waterways and require the restoration of dynamited areas.
Christopher Holmes, spokesman for Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, said the agency is rewriting its "stream protection rule" to boost environmental safeguards.
The proposal being drafted, Holmes said, would:
* Establish a clear standard for restoring dynamited mountaintops. The 1977 Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act requires that mountaintops be restored to their "approximate original contour," but defining the term has been left to individual states.
* Yank the right of state regulators to grant exceptions to the contour-restoration requirement. Federal authorities currently allow states to set their own standards for granting exemptions, and state standards vary widely.
* Set a federal definition for "material damage" to watersheds beyond permitting areas. The surface-mining law prohibits mountaintop-removal mines and other above-ground coal operations from damaging watersheds outside areas covered by mining permits, but the requirement has been difficult to enforce because "material damage" has never been defined.
* Require companies applying for mining permits to collect more information on the environmental health of watersheds where they intend to work and to monitor conditions during and after mining. Mines that inflict environmental damages beyond what is permitted would be required to change their operations or close.
* Clarify that seasonal streams and temporary streams are covered by the regulations, even when the streambed is dry.
The changes under consideration would apply to new applications for surface coal mining permits and would not apply to existing coal mines, Holmes said.
This is just one step in a long process as the new stream protection rule writing is on-going and far from final. The Office of Surface Mining is still working on the assessment of the proposal's environmental impact. OSM officials will be meeting with folks in impacted states over the next month for a round of feedback on the proposed rule changes.
The proposed rule is due for publication in February, 2011. Then a lengthy public review process occurs with a final rule update not due to go into effect until 2012.
By now, West Virginia and the coal mining has been boosted to the front lines of all mainstream media sources. Coal mining has come under scrutiny in the past by many environmental groups about its detrimental effects to the planet and its hazardous emissions. This aside, it is still a key element in powering our country.
To outsiders looking in, coal mining may be a very little known topic. Personally being from West Virginia, even I do not know a great deal about coal and coal mining (i come from a part of the state where mines are not present).
I encourage those who are interested to watch this episode from the short lived tv show 30 days.
The show revolves around documentary filmmaker, and native West Virginian, Morgan Spurlock and his brief forays into various lifestyles for a period of 30 days. Spurlock is probably best known for his popular documentary "Supersize Me" about McDonald's and the fast food industry.
In this particular episode, Spurlock ventures back to his home of West Virginia to experience the life of a coal-miner for 30 days. I loved the tv show 30 days and was sad to see it being short-lived. This episode is good and shows firsthand the life of a coal miner and the industry in WV.
Rescue officials and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin just announced a huge setback in their efforts to find the four miners still missing inside the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.
Repeated readings for carbon monoxide, methane and other gases indicated a potentially explosive mixture, prompting a decision to pull four rescue teams from the mine just five hours after they went in early this morning.
"We've had a setback," said Kevin Stricklin, coal administrator for the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Already before we know the fate of the missing miners, before the bodies have been prepared for burial, there are people on the right trying to figure out a way to score political points off this disaster that has the rest of our state united in mourning.
With fingers trembling in anger I write these words: Have you no decency? Have you no sense of dignity and grace, of decorum and propriety?
I will let UMWA President Cecil Roberts speak for me:
"The hearts and prayers of all UMWA members are with the families of those lost today at Performance Coal Company's Upper Big Branch mine. We are also praying for the safe rescue of those still missing, and for the safety of the courageous mine rescue team members. They are putting their lives on the line, entering a highly dangerous mine to bring any survivors to safety.
"As a mine operated by a subsidiary of Massey Energy, the Upper Big Branch mine is a nonunion mine. Nevertheless, I have dispatched highly trained and skilled UMWA personnel to the immediate vicinity of the mine, and they stand ready to offer any assistance they can to the families and the rescuers at this terrible and anxious time. We are all brothers and sisters in the coalfields at times like this.
Clem and others will dismantle the fallacious arguments put forward by those trying to rewrite history with the blood of the dead miners.
This is not that time. This is a time to stand in prayer, in unity, in mourning with all our brothers and sisters in the coalfields.
Before I begin, I want to send my deepest condolences, our thoughts and prayers to the families and the friends of the workers who lost their lives after an explosion took place in a West Virginia mine yesterday. At this moment, there are still people missing. There are rescue teams that are searching tirelessly and courageously to find them.
I spoke with Governor Manchin of West Virginia last night and told him that the federal government stands ready to offer whatever assistance is needed in this rescue effort. So I would ask the faithful who've gathered here this morning to pray for the safe return of the missing, the men and women who put their lives on the line to save them, and the souls of those who have been lost in this tragic accident. May they rest in peace, and may their families find comfort in the hard days ahead.
Massey announced $1 million to build a new school to replace the school where students' and teachers' lives are at risk because it is one dam break away from disaster because of Massey's impoundment pond.
I have a question, Ken: is there any indication/information to suggest whether Massey (i.e. Don) will actually write a check, or will he try to "take it out in trade" and have MasseyPeople do the site prep or some such? What impact would such a deal have on the requirement that the school be built in accordance with West Virginia's prevailing wage laws?
My question is born of the fact that the state of West Virginia has, in the past, allowed Massey to make payment in rocks. Should we expect more of the same?
Great going Massey, you get a million dollar tax deduction and the state is left holding the bag to build another school in another location where the students won't be exposed to coal dust and other toxins.
We could say Thank you, Watcher, and I for one am glad Massey finally stepped up and contributed - but I am also wary of a corporation that seldom does something for nothing.
Update
As usual, Senator Robert C. Byrd describes it much more eloquently and diplomatically than me. He calls the donation a "welcome start.
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today said he welcomed as a "good start" the announcement by Massey Energy that they are pledging $1 million toward the construction of a new $8.6 million Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County.
Byrd last October blasted Massey Energy officials for their refusal to provide assistance to efforts to replace the existing Marsh Fork Elementary School because of potential health and safety concerns. The Raleigh County School is adjacent to a coal silo constructed by Massey Energy, and sits at the foot of the company's mountain top pond that holds back hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic coal slurry.
"This is a welcome and good start by officials at Massey Energy in announcing their pledge of $1 million for the construction of a new $8.6 million Marsh Fork Elementary School," said Byrd.
"As Massey Energy moves to acquire Cumberland Resources through a stock offering, and helps pay for mountain top mining music concerts, I would hope that they will continue to keep the welfare of the young students at Marsh Fork Elementary in their hearts and in their minds. These children are our future and it is my hope that all the necessary funds will be made available to construct a relocated Marsh Fork Elementary School soon," Byrd added.
As he says, the donation is a "welcome start." It's not the end. Massey should kick in more money since a new school is made necessary by Massey's activities.
n an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency's headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA's door that reads, "EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010." Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won't leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.
This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today's tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies' imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath.
"We're losing our way of life and our culture," said Chuck Nelson, who worked as a coal miner in West Virginia for three decades and came to DC to support today's protest. "Mountaintop removal should be banned today. The practice means total devastation for communities, the hardwood forests, the ecosystems, and the headwaters. Why should our communities sacrifice everything we have?"
Written by James F. Fox of the University of Kentucky and J. Elliott Campbell of the University of California, Merced, the paper leaves no doubt that, even if CCS works and is widely deployed, questions will remain about the climate change impacts of mountaintop removal.
[snip]
In fact, this paper reports that mountaintop removal's life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions are 17 percent greater if you include carbon dioxide from sources other than the actual burning of the coal - emissions from cutting down and burning forests, potential release of carbon previously locked up in the soils of the mountains, and from mining and transportation equipment.
That's the potential high-end of those emissions if you assume coal is burned in a conventional power plant.
If the industry switches to CCS-equipped plants that capture most of the emissions from coal-burning, then these other carbon dioxide sources would actually account for nearly twice the emissions of coal burning.
Let's try a little bit of advanced math here. If it takes 30% more fuel to create the same amount of energy after carbon-capture and storage is added to a coal-fired electric plant... and if, conservatively, only 50% of that coal came from mountain top removal coal mines... let's see...
100 + 17 = 117 (100% at plant + 17% more)
0 + 17 + .3 * 17 / 2 = 19.55 (0% at plant + 17% more +
19.55 / 117 = 17%
That means that even if we are able to advance CCS technology to the point where it can capture 100% of the greenhouse gases produced during electricity production, we'd still be producing 17% as much CO2 as we started out with.
So much for the carbon neutral claims Big Coal has been advertising. That's just one more way that clean coal ain't.
-Jeff Friedrich on the end of Climate Ground Zero's 9-day treesit: "Lies Don Blankenship Told Me: Why Climate Activists Are Heading To The West Virginian Coal Fields."
- Nitchman and Blevins still in jail. Total bail at $9,624.00.
- Logan Banner managing editor Michael Browning asks why we should care about celebrities' views on coal mining - unless, of course, they're named Ted Nugent or Hank Williams Jr and get a check from Blankenship for a rally that the Banner helped promote.
- Blankenship political operative Roman Stauffer would probably have a good idea what the schedule of disgraced judge Elliott "Spike" Maynard looks like. Stauffer, who's been pushing for a Maynard challenge to Rep. Rahall, says Spike is going to talk to John Raese's mouthpiece, Hoppy Kercheval, Monday at 10:00 a.m. Will Don's pal announce a coal owner-funded run?
- Mollohan and Rahall joined Capito's coal caucus.
- And President Obama took time from his smackdown of the House GOP at their Baltimore retreat to take a question from Capito.
CHARLESTON, WV - Responding to national pressure over the treatment of tree sitters on Coal River Mountain, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin asked Climate Ground Zero for an emergency meeting. This morning Roland Micklem, 81, and other group members told the Governor that the civil-disobedience campaign won't stop until mountaintop removal does. They reminded the governor that the campaign is strictly non-violent, and asked the governor to protect activists from threats of violence by Massey Energy and other coal companies.
"The governor attempted to steer the conversation away from the more massive crime of MTR," said Micklem. "We are here to oppose mountaintop removal mining, which is a crime. Massey Energy has committed any number of illegalities. We will continue non-violent civil disobedience in order to stop it."
Today is the eighth day that Eric Blevins, 28, and Amber Nitchman, 19, continue to peacefully occupy trees to prevent blasting near Massey Energy's Bee Tree strip mine on Coal River Mountain. They are preventing Massey from blasting near a sludge dam that endangers downstream communities.
The sitters have faced constant harassment from Massey Security in the form of air horns, bright lights and violent threats. The meeting resulted in a temporary moratorium on the use of the air horns and flood lights, but the sitters remain worried about the possibility of other, more dangerous, methods of harassment.
Governor Manchin recently came out against violence between the opponents and proponents of mountaintop removal mining after a meeting with coalfield residents about the effects of that type of mining.
In response to news of the harassment, hundreds of people from all over the country called Massey Energy, and then Governor Manchin to express their displeasure with his continued support of mountaintop removal mining, and to pressure him to stop the auditory abuse of the tree sitters. "The massive call-ins to the Governor and Massey Energy this week came from all over the country; mountaintop removal is a national issue with national consequences - the coal companies cannot continue to treat central Appalachia like their own personal playground," said David Aaron Smith, one of the sitters who had to come down Monday.
Today Manchin stated: "Even if we disagree, I believe we can walk away respecting each other but everyone-including activists and property owners-must do so within the letter of the law." Activists acknowledge that they are taking part in civil disobedience in response to legal violations committed by mining companies. In the debate with Robert Kennedy Jr last week, Massey CEO Don Blankenship said "I doubt it's possible [to do mountaintop removal] without having a single violation at a single time."
Federal mine safety officials are looking into a comment by one of its Kentucky-based inspectors on the social networking site, Facebook, that proclaimed, "Hang a tree-hugger today."
[...]
David Cooper, an activist who opposes mountaintop removal coal mining, circulated via email the comment by Terry Phillips, who Louviere identified as a mine inspector based in Pikeville, on the Facebook page for the pro-coal Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security. Both that page, and a copy of Phillip's public page on Facebook, were published on this environmental website.
A man who identified himself as Phillips returned my call and said he was sorry. "I was kidding around," Phillips said. "It's caused me a lot of problems. I wished I had never done it."
Will Vicki Smith of the AP still try to pretend that the nutty rhetoric is coming equally from both sides?
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