West Virginia mine explosion

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DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Most of you have probably heard by now about the mine explosion in southern West Virginia. As of this posting, 25 are confirmed dead with 4 missing. Based on latest reports, it's not looking good for those 4.

This is normal for that part of the state. The mine is owned by a subsidiary of Massey Energy. Massey is owned by one Don Blankenship. The less I say about him the better, lest I go all argl bargl DA SMASH! Let's just say he's like a Captain Planet villian brought to life.

In lieu of my foaming rage, I'll let the links tell the story...

Coal Tattoo - this is the site that made Blankenship compare this paper to Osama bin Laden.

Mine owner racked up serious violations - like the tv villain who unrolls the fine from a big wad of bills and laughs in the face of the hero, he's found it easier to just pay the fine rather than fix life safety violations.

Outright buying of judges - spent millions to elect a state Supreme Court justice that would rule in his favor in a pending court case... until SCOTUS stepped in.

It's really no secret that the governor, many state officials, and the main statewide news network is in the tank for Blankenship. It's just sad that there's no one here with the clout to put him in his place.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

That's pretty terrible. I feel bad for the worker's families. I'll add that to my list of thing that scare me: being trapped in a coal mine and/or cavern.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

And the dismantling of unions and deregulation of mining continues...

I hate being snarky about something so terrible.

If Massey would have drilled those ventilation holes before the accident...
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

sixpackshaker said:
If Massey would have drilled those ventilation holes before the accident...
Click to expand...
It wouldn't have been Massey.

The violations they've been paying fines on are life-threatening ones, not just the ticky-tack stuff. As long as that coal keeps coming out of the ground, they don't give two shits about the miners.
 
C

Chazwozel

DarkAudit;367380][QUOTE=sixpackshaker said:
If Massey would have drilled those ventilation holes before the accident...
Click to expand...
It wouldn't have been Massey.

The violations they've been paying fines on are life-threatening ones, not just the ticky-tack stuff. As long as that coal keeps coming out of the ground, they don't give two shits about the miners.[/QUOTE]


Wow it's like WV and PA are the same state in terms of mining companies not giving a rats ass about their employees!
 
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Chibibar

The sad part is that this could have been avoided. The fine was "cheaper" for the company to pay rather than "fixing" the issue :(
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

There were at least 4 evacuation orders issued by MSHA for this mine in the last month alone. That is where the miners are not allowed in that part (or multiple parts) of the mine.

All of Massey's operations are non-union. given the guy's history, I'd expect any attempts to unionize would be met with violence or worse.
 
V

Violent Drunk Ray Romano

DarkAudit said:
There were at least 4 evacuation orders issued by MSHA for this mine in the last month alone. That is where the miners are not allowed in that part (or multiple parts) of the mine.

All of Massey's operations are non-union. given the guy's history, I'd expect any attempts to unionize would be met with violence or worse.
Click to expand...
UNNNNIIOOOO......Oh you get the picture...
 
C

Chibibar

DarkAudit said:
There were at least 4 evacuation orders issued by MSHA for this mine in the last month alone. That is where the miners are not allowed in that part (or multiple parts) of the mine.

All of Massey's operations are non-union. given the guy's history, I'd expect any attempts to unionize would be met with violence or worse.
Click to expand...
I guess I don't know much about the laws that govern safety. I remember from history that factories (where kids use to work) was VERY hazardous and been know to take a hand or leg. Time has change since then and there are safety laws required by many factories. I would assume these would cover mining or machinery require to be safe :(

I can't imagine this company with soooooo many fines and "broken" regulation to be allow to continue to operate. Is it also failure on the government part? or are they turning a blind eye since the company "donate" to their cause? or make money for the state?
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

It's pretty much common knowledge that the governor and plenty of others in WV politics are in the tank for Blankenship and Massey. When the EPA was going to block new permits for mountaintop removal mines, Governor Manchin was leading the charge attacking the EPA as trying to destroy mining. A few blogs in the state have called him Massey's "spokeslackey" this week for some of the briefings he's given.

And just a few minutes ago, the last briefing was held. The bodies of the last 4 unaccounted for miners were found this evening. Rescuers had actually passed some of them earlier, but could not see them through the smoke that forced them to turn back. They apparently died in the initial blast that killed the others.
 
DarkAudit

DarkAudit

Don Blankenship must think we're all stupid. He took out a full page ad in most WV papers today to address the accident. In the statement, he claims that his mines "exceed legal safety standards" and "safety issues are fixed as soon as we find them."

Don Blankenship, YOU ARE A FUCKING LIAR. And anyone in the state with half a brain knows this. I spoke with a person in Sen. Byrd's office about the ad this morning. Her reaction to the two quotes above? "Yeah, right."

It's only reported so far by the World Socalist Web Site, so make of that what you will, but there are reports that Massey is refusing to allow surviving miners time off to attend the funerals of the dead miners. Still waiting for a less radical source, but general web chatter is not surprised they'd do this.
 
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