Posts Tagged ‘Upper Big Branch Mine’

Blankenship on trial: Potentially precedent setting case re CEO criminal responsibility

Wednesday, October 7th, 2015

A day that many in West Virginia have waited for has come to pass: Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Mining, is on trial. Proceedings began on October 1 in Charleston Federal Court and are in the jury selection phase.

Get your popcorn ready for what promises to be a very interesting and potentially precedent setting case. Holding a CEO criminally responsible for charges related to work safety violations is extremely rare. Observers are interested particularly in light of the Justice Department’s new emphasis and directive on prioritizing accountability and prosecution of individuals rather than just corporations. And no one is watching the proceedings with more interest than the families of the 29 miners who lost their lives.

The Charleston Gazette is following the trial closely with Don Blankenship on Trial, a special reporting section that includes day-by-day trial coverage updates and stories, timelines, a list of legal documents, historical articles, videos, maps and more. It also includes photos and profiles of the deceased.

Coverage also includes links to podcasts by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. WVPB has also been reporting on the case, offering an extensive background and podcasts of the trial events. You can find the latest podcast on the link above, or find a roster of the daily podcasts here or at the WVPB site’s dedicated Blankenship Trial page, where other reportage is also available.

The 16 minute Episode One is well worth a listen. WVPB’s Ashton Marra interviews
Howard Birkus, investigative reporter for NPR on coal mining and work safety, and Mike Hissam, Partner of Bailey & Glasser law firm. They set the stage for the trial and talk about its precedent-setting nature. Birkus says that it is “”extraordinarily rare to hold a CEO responsible for criminal or civil violations at their companies” noting that prosecutors need a paper trail, electronic trail or inside people who will testify. Hissom talk about how this case is on the leading edge of the Obama Justice Department’s new guidelines on criminally prosecuting individuals rather than just fining a corporation. They discuss how CEOs are often insulated from decision-making, but that Blankenship is unique and legendary in his micro-managing practices.

For background on the Justice Department’s new focus on criminal prosecutions, see the New York Times: Justice Department Sets Sights on Wall Street Executives. Matt Apuzzo and Ben Protess report on new rules, issued in a memo to federal prosecutors nationwide:

“Though limited in reach, the memo could erase some barriers to prosecuting corporate employees and inject new life into these high-profile investigations. The Justice Department often targets companies themselves and turns its eyes toward individuals only after negotiating a corporate settlement. In many cases, that means the offending employees go unpunished.

The memo, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times, tells civil and criminal investigators to focus on individual employees from the beginning. In settlement negotiations, companies will not be able to obtain credit for cooperating with the government unless they identify employees and turn over evidence against them, “regardless of their position, status or seniority.” Credit for cooperation can save companies billions of dollars in fines and mean the difference between a civil settlement and a criminal charge.”

For background on the case, How we got here offers a history of the case.

The reporting traces Blankenship’s rise to power in the coal mining industry and his influence in the state’s politics on through to the April 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine explosion that claimed the lives of 29 miners. Several investigations revealed ” … a pattern of violations by Massey of key safety standards, including proper mine ventilation, control of the buildup of explosive dust, and maintenance of equipment to prevent sparks that could set off a blast.” To date, four criminal convictions have occurred. Then in November of last year:

“… a federal grand jury meeting in Charleston indicted Blankenship, charging him with four criminal counts. A superseding indictment was later filed that combined two of the counts. Blankenship faces charges that he conspired to violate federal mine safety standards and to hide those violations from government inspectors and that he lied to federal securities regulators about Massey’s safety practices to try to stop the company’s stock prices from plummeting after the disaster.”

More resopurces
See our prior stories on Don Blankenship here

Follow Ken Ward on Twitter

Follow other reporting and commentary on twitter at #Blankenship

Scary, but for the wrong reasons: Halloween mining disaster “attraction”

Tuesday, October 29th, 2013

Three and a half years ago, 29 miners died in Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. About 300 miles east from the locale of that tragedy, up until a day or two ago, you could walk through a “haunted” Halloween maze called The Miners’ Revenge at King’s Dominion theme park. The “attraction” was described this way:

“Alone in the darkness . . . the only sound is the pulsing of your heart as the searing heat slowly boils you alive . . . It was reported to be the worst coal mine accident in history. The families of missing miners begged for help but it was decided that a rescue was too dangerous. The miners were left entombed deep underground … “Lamps at their sides and pick-axes in their hands they are searching for the men who left them to die . . . waiting to exact their revenge.”

Peter Galuszka writes about this “amusement park” attraction in an opinion piece in the Washington Post: Miners’ deaths aren’t a theme-park thrill – or a copy can also be accessed at The Charleston Daily Mail.
Galuszka, who researched mine disasters for a book, said that the description and promotions are too close to reality.

“To promote the maze, Kings Dominion’s website features a garish picture of a badly mutilated half-skeleton.

That depiction, unfortunately, is true to reality. At Upper Big Branch, 10 of the 29 dead were blown apart by the explosion. The rest died of carbon monoxide intoxication.

So powerful was the blast that the remains of one miner were not found for days. He had been blown into the ceiling, and rescuers tended to look down.

So extensive was the physical trauma to five miners that pathologists couldn’t find enough lung tissue to probe for pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, in their remains.”

The Kings Dominion “attraction” closed for the season on 10/27 — and none too soon. Families of deceased miners were understandably appalled and troubled. While King’s Dominion says the attraction wasn’t meant to depict a specific situation, families say that it hits too close to home.
In the WCHSTV story linked above, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant shared her thoughts:

“I am appalled that Cedar Fair Entertainment Company is using the heartbreaking loss of our coal miners’ lives and the very real guilt of their colleagues and rescuers to make a buck,” Tennant said in a statement. “Our miners work hard and honorably, and for Cedar Fair Entertainment to exploit tragedies such as the 1968 explosion at Farmington or the Upper Big Branch disaster in 2010 for ‘amusement’ is too unbelievable for words.”

Hopefully, this tasteless chapter ends with the season and will not be revisited in future years. It does indeed hit close to home for far too many. In 2013 to date, 18 coal miners have lost their lives. See Faces of the Mine for a more fitting remembrance of those affected by the Upper Big Branch disaster.

UBB mine disaster: the plot thickens as former CEO Blankenship implicated

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

In the ongoing saga of the federal investigation into the April 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster that resulted in the deaths of 29 miners, things recently took a dramatic turn. The legal-criminal proceedings have resulted in four convictions to date. Now, in the most recent proceedings, a top Massey official has implicated former CEO Don Blakenship.

According to a news report by Ken Ward Jr in the Charleston Gazette:

Former Massey official David C. Hughart pleaded guilty to two federal criminal charges that he plotted with other company officials to routinely violate safety standards and then cover up the resulting workplace hazards.

But a fairly routine plea hearing here took a surprising twist when U.S. District Judge Irene Berger pressed Hughart to name his co-conspirators and Hughart responded, “the chief executive officer.”

Hughart did not use Blankenship’s name, but Blankenship was CEO of Massey from 2000 until 2010, during the period when the crimes Hughart admitted to committing occurred.

On his Coal Tattoo blog, Ward looks at media coverage this news generated and how it was reported. He talks about what’s next in the Upper Big Branch criminal probe. The prosecution has stated that “This is not the end of the investigation.”

You can follow Don Blankenship’s doings on his fairly new website, where he is self billed as “Native of Appalachia, Job Creator, CEO, and American competitionist.” He posts his thoughts about mine safety, among other things, in an essay page. In his page of media coverage, Ken Ward’s clips and the UBB mining investigations are unsurprisingly absent.
You can also follow his opinions and comments on Twitter at @DonBlankenship. Ironically, his most recent post accuses President Obama of lying, with a link to an essay which claims that Obama lied about climate change in his State of the Union address.

We’re coming up on the third anniversary of this terrible Massey mine tragedy. The investigation and criminal probe of company officials continues, but it’s important to look beyond that to ensure future safety. Ken Ward takes the MHSA to task for waiting 32 years to enforce the landmark mine safety act of 1977.

We point you to the Miners Memorial Page at the tribute site, Faces of the Mine. Scrolling through a page of 29 portraits brings home the enormity of this tragedy in a visceral way.

News roundup: Risk Roundup, Wal-Mart Class Action, WCRI Report, Massey Probe Widens & more

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

Risk Roundup – Emily Holbrook hosts Cavalcade of Risk #171 at Risk Management Monitor – be sure to check it out.
One to watch: Wal-Mart Class action & WC – In Business Insurance, Roberto Ceniceros writes about a Wal-Mart class action settlement that raises big workers comp questions. Josephine Gianzero et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. resulted in a settlement for 13,521 plaintiffs. It raises several issues of concern related to workers comp: the case was a breach of the exclusive remedy provision – an issue that is always of some concern to employers – and it raises questions about medical claims management.
According to Ceniceros: “The settlement involving Wal-Mart’s claims administration unit and Concentra Health Services Inc. in Colorado also is troubling since it is believed to be the first payout resulting from recent suits alleging that employers’ and workers comp service providers’ claims management practices violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, several observers say.”
This is quite the hot potato and of concern to TPAs, several of whom declined comment on the case. As Ceniceros reports, “The issue is sensitive because the lawsuit raises the question of how far claims administrators can pursue management of questionable medical treatments found through common practices, such as utilization reviews, without violating the law, the source said.”
(Here’s a summary of the case when the class action was certified in 2010.
How to keep injured workers from turning to lawyers – In the current issue of CFO, Richard Victor writes about a recent Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) study that sheds light on why injured workers feel the need to hire an attorney: How to Keep Unneeded Lawyers Out of Workers’ Comp . It’s a good article and worth the read – here’s a snippet:

“Not surprisingly, the study found that workers are more likely to seek attorneys when they feel threatened. Sources of perceived threats can take different forms. The character of the employment relationship, for example, was a factor for the 23% who strongly agreed that they hired attorneys because they feared being fired or laid off. Fifteen percent also strongly agreed that they needed attorneys because their employer could perceive their claims as illegitimate.

Miscommunication in the claims process was another significant factor. In fact, 46% said they hired attorneys because they felt the claim had been denied when, in fact, it had not yet been accepted into the process. Attorney involvement among workers with the most severe injuries were 15 percentage points higher than those with mostly minor injuries.”

Related: We refer you to one of our favorite articles on the topic by plaintiff attorney Alan S. Pierce: Top Ten List as to Why Injured Workers Retain Attorneys
More Charges; Big Branch Probe Widens – Ken Ward reports that today, federal prosecutors have charged a longtime Massey Energy mine manager with being part of a decade-long conspiracy to defy safety laws and dupe government inspectors. Expect more to come:

But in new court documents, Goodwin and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby allege a broader conspiracy by as-yet unnamed “directors, officers, and agents” of Massey operating companies to put coal production ahead of worker safety and health at “other coal mines owned by Massey.”

It is the first time in their probe of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster that prosecutors have filed charges alleging Massey officials engaged in a scheme that went beyond the Raleigh County mine where 29 workers died in an April 2010 explosion.

Follow the ongoing story and find links to other coverage at Ward’s Coal Tattoo blog.
Pharma Costs – Joe Paduda links to and comments on a recent Express Scripts drug trends report. The long and short of it? Pharmacy price increases are driven by brands.
Fighting Fraud – Southern California has 65 billboards warning about work comp fraud. To raise public awareness or criminal penalties associated with fraud, the boards will be placed on billboards and transit shelter posters placed across San Diego County.
Strange Risks – Can you insure against acne attacks or hair loss? Lori Widmer has an entertaining read in this month’s Risk Management Magazine: The Stranger Side of Risk.
Other noteworthy items

Check out the fresh Health Wonk Review at Joe’s place

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Our colleague Joe Paduda has posted the latest and greatest edition of Health Wonk Review at Managed Care Matters, and it’s a good one. If you haven’t checked it out lately, you should – there are some really high quality participants and regulars – including a few newcomers like Wing of Zock, a blog with a name that makes us feel like our blog name is pretty pedestrian.
Joe featured a link to our post about the criminal probe related to the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster and he added an editorial update via link to a new story posted today: UBB disaster: Ex-mine security chief gets 3 years in prison.
You can see more on this conviction and the judge’s reasoning about sentencing over at our go-to blog on all mining-related matters – Ken Ward’s Coal Tattoo.

More charges in Upper Big Branch Mine disaster criminal probe

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

There’s breaking news in the ongoing criminal investigation into the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster that killed 29 miners in 2010. The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. reports that a mining manager has been charged with conspiracy. supervisor Gary May is charged with plotting “with others known and unknown” to provide advance warning of inspections, concealing violations, falsifying records, and taking steps to conceal actual work conditions. He is also charged with disabling a methane monitoring system a few months before the explosions.

May is the third person to be charged in the ongoing criminal investigation and is said to be cooperating with investigators. Ward reports that, “Next week, former Massey Energy security director Hughie Elbert Stover faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Irene Berger after being convicted of lying to investigators and trying to destroy evidence about Massey’s practice of warning underground workers of impending government inspections.”

At his Coal Tattoo blog, Ward offers more context about May and the charges against him. Ward, other industry observers, and other media indicate that the way the charges are structured would seem to indicate that the investigators are looking to upper levels of the organization. It would seem that there are more shoes to drop in this sad saga.
For ongoing coverage of Massey’s UBB mine disaster, see Coal Tattoo / Upper Big Branch Disaster and the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster archives at The Charleston Gazette.

MSHA: Upper Big Branch Miner Deaths Were “Entirely Preventable”

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Every time Massey sent miners into the UBB Mine, Massey put those miners’ lives at risk” – Joe Main, assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health and chief of MSHA

A scathing report issued by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration yesterday put the blame for the coal mining disaster that claimed 29 lives on “a workplace culture that valued production over safety.” The report characterized the coal mining disaster as “entirely preventable”, one that could have been avoided if long-standing and well-known safety standards had been followed. The report documents flagrant safety violations, routine coverups of violations, and intimidation of workers to keep them from reporting safety hazards and violations.
Ken Ward, who has covered the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster with painstaking detail in The Charleston Gazette, reports:

“Outlining flagrant safety violations and a practice of trying to cover up major hazards, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration officials cited mine operator Performance Coal Co. with 369 violations — including 12 that directly contributed to the disaster — and levied more than $10.8 million in fines.

Both the fines and the settlement are by far the largest ever in a case over worker safety in the mining industry.”

In addition, federal prosecutors announced a $200 million settlement with Alpha Natural Resources, the firm that bought Massey Energy. The settlement calls for $80 million to be directed to enhanced safety at all the company’s underground mines, as well as a dedicated training center and a $48 million trust to fund mine safety research at academic institutions. The settlement also includes $46.5 million in restitution for the families of the disaster victims.
Ward states:

Key to the deal, though, is that — unlike a previous deal with Massey following the Aracoma Mine fire — the Justice Department is not agreeing to never bring charges against any individual executives, officers or employees of Massey or Performance. Goodwin said resolution of issues with Alpha allows prosecutors to focus their resources on potential cases against such individuals.

In addition to his newspaper reports, Ward covers related events at his Coal Tattoo blog. Of particular note is a post in which he talks more about the settlement and how U.S. Attorney’s criminal probe will continue. He quotes one US attorney as saying, “If anything, certain aspects of our investigation are going into high gear.”

All eyes will be on Alpha going forward. Their buyout occurred last June despite intense opposition, questions about events, and allegations of secret deals revolving around the $8.5 billion sale. Shortly after this deal, Alpha joined industry opposition to tougher safety rules.

The report was issued on the 104th anniversary of the worst mining disaster in U.S. history – the coal mining explosions at Monongah W.V. that claimed 362 lives. While mining safety has improved in the decades since, yesterday’s report demonstrates there are many more improvements that could and must occur to protect workers.

Related prior posts

Massey Energy: The Don of an Era

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Last year 29 coal miners died in an explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Don Blankenship, Massey CEO, blamed the explosion on federal interference and a gigantic methane bubble that percolated up from below the mine shafts. The bubble has burst, but not in the way Blankenship would have you believe.
An independent team appointed by the former West Virginia governor, Joe Manchin, and led by the former federal mine safety chief Davitt McAteer, has issued its findings, which are both unambiguous and scathing. There was no methane bubble. There was, instead, a pattern of negligence by management that led directly to the deaths of the miners.
As summarized in the New York Times, the report is a searing indictment of Massey’s management style:

“The story of Upper Big Branch is a cautionary tale of hubris,” the report concluded. “A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coalfields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk-taking.”

The report goes on to say that a “perfect storm” was brewing inside the mine, combining poor ventilation, equipment whose safety mechanisms were not functioning and coal dust, which, contrary to industry rules, had been allowed to accumulate, “behaving like a line of gunpowder carrying the blast forward in multiple directions.”

Given the uncompromising language of the report, Massey management may not enjoy the “exclusive remedy” protections of the workers comp statute. They are now vulnerable to charges of criminal negligence. I suspect that attorneys for the widows and children of the miners will look rather closely at the assets of Massey’s (now former) CEO.
Farewell, My Ugly
Don Blankenship resigned from his CEO post in December of last year. Don’t bother putting up a collection to buy this ethically-challenged titan of business a gold watch. In 2009 he earned $17.8 million, which does not include deferred compensation of an additional $27.2 million. There is no question that Blankenship’s leadership created profits for the company. Unfortunately, these profits came at the expense of the environment and of the men who extracted the coal from the West Virginia mountains.
The anecdote that tells you a lot about Blankenship involves his personal water supply. When Massey Energy activity poisoned the water reaching his own home, Blankenship ran a private pipeline to the next town, where clean water was readily available. His neighbors, lacking Blankenship’s resources, have to make do with the local, polluted water.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. In a just world, Blankenship would be held accountable for his actions as Massey’s CEO. But we do not live in a world where justice prevails very often. Blankenship will likely continue to enjoy his retirement years, drinking clean mountain waters, railing about government interference, buying a few politicians and generally living the good life. We can only hope that each and every night his dreams are haunted by visions of the 29 miners and their struggling families. That would be one form of justice indeed.

Risk, compensability, mousing elbow, medical costs, and other news briefs

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

Cavalcade of Risk – Emily Holbrook is hosting the 131st edition of Cavalcade of Risk at one of our favorite risk-related blogs, Risk Management Monitor. Check it out!
Compensability issues – In disputes as to whether an employee’s injury or illness is eligible for benefits, courts look at the issues of whether the injury arose in the course and scope of employment. Roberto Ceniceros posts that while course and scope have generally been regarded as a single doctrine, that may be changing with the challenges posed by an increasingly mobile work force. See his blog post: “Course and scope” separated.
Safety for the solitary worker – Speaking of a mobile work force, do you have workers who work alone? Solitary work poses unique safety challenges. See Safety Daily Advisor’s tips for keeping solo workers safe.
Claims IT systems webinar – Health Strategy Associates has an upcoming webinar that may be of interest to some of our readers: the results of HSA’s First Annual Survey of Workers Comp Claims IT Systems. If the sponsoring organization’s name isn’t familiar to you, it’s our fellow blogger and friend Joe Paduda’s firm – he’s sponsoring the seminar in conjunction with colleague Sandy Blunt. If this interests you, act now – the webinar is scheduled for tomorrow!
Mining safety, one year later – On last week’s anniversary of the West Virginia Big Branch mine disaster that claimed 29 lives, the latimes.com looks at progress – or lack of progress – in enhancing miner safety: Families of dead miners feel let down by Washington. The story reports that in the past year, a safety bill has failed and the backlog of safety cases has grown.
Top HR issuesWorkforce covers the top 10 HR concerns as reported by the Employers Resource Association. These issues are compiled from the more than 8,000 hotline calls made by the organization’s membership of 1,300 companies in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Mousing elbow – As we incorporate more and more devices in our work-world, technology-related maladies seem to multiply. Greg LaRochelle of the MEMIC Safety Blog talks about Mousing Elbow and how to prevent it. See also Blackberry Thumb, Cell Phone Elbow, IPod Ear. Also, see our ergo tips for setting up a workstation.
Medical costs – Can making physicians aware of the costs for procedures help to curtail costs? Katherine Hobson of WSJ’s Health Blog reports on an interesting research project that showed a decrease in expenditures for routine lab tests when physicians were made aware of the overall costs for such procedures: “Cosimi tells the Health Blog the study represents “a good first step, just to show that there’s a problem, and a potential solution.” The goal would be to establish guidelines for proper testing. And he says it’s not just blood work that could benefit from this kind of approach. At his own transplant unit, he noticed changes in prescribing behavior simply by posting the very different costs of two similar antibiotics.”
Hidden costs – We all know the health risks of smoking and that smoking can contribute to comorbidities that hinder worker recovery. But there are lesser known risks that can contribute to claim costs, In PropertyCasualty360, Zack Craft of Total Medical Solutions talks about how smoking can damage sensitive medical equipment too, and a factor that adjusters should consider.
Wage & hour violations? There’s an app for that – If you feel like your employees are tracking you, they may well be. Employment attorney Michael Fox posts about the Department of Labor’s new timesheet i-phone app, which is intended to help employees track the hours they work and the wages they are owed. The DOL says that, “This information could prove invaluable during a Wage and Hour Division investigation when an employer has failed to maintain accurate employment records.”

Cavalcade of Risk & briefs from the Blogosphere

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Russell Chatwood, our riskmeister from New Zealand (… or as some have put it “down under the Down Under”) is our host for this week’s edition of the 128th Cavalcade of Risk. It’s a substantive issue — and don’t miss the oddball features.
System spillover – In a recent column in Risk & Insurance, Peter Rousmaniere takes a look at workers’ comp and finds leaks in the system. He talks about how many nonoccupational disability and health problems find their way into the comp system, while many work injuries leave the work comp system to roost elsewhere.
Federal shutdown? – If tomorrow brings a government shutdown, the Federal Times reports that some 800,000 federal employees will be furloughed, and discusses the likely impact. Federal Times is a news and information service for Federal Managers, so might be a good source to follow along if worse comes to worst. Related: CNN also has a government shutdown FAQ.
One year laterEHS Today takes a look back at the Big Branch mining disaster on the one year anniversary. Reporter Ken Ward of the WV Gazette raises the questions that linger about Massey’s mine disaster on his Coal Tattoo blog, and points us to a tribute to the miners composed by one of his colleagues. Also see Faces of the Mine, a moving community-driven, interactive memorial for those affected by the Upper Big Branch mine disaster.
Rhabdomyolysis & athletes – If athletes are among your employees, you may want to note that the recent post about rhabdomyolysis that ran in the L.A. Times health blog, Booster Shots. This is a type of overexertion illness in which muscle tissue is so overworked it breaks down and floods the bloodstream with a protein that can impair kidney function.
Medicare: FAQs on ACOs – the folks at HealthLawProf Blog have compiled some good resources on Accountable Care Organizations: Your ACO Primer Links and Getting up to speed on ACOs.
Lights, camera, action… – Bet you thought our item about a sitcom called Workers Comp was an early April Fool’s joke … nope, here is a news update: ‘Sopranos’ actor added to cast of Bradenton-shot TV show. The show is described as a “comedy about zany employees dealing with weird insurance claims.” Get your popcorn ready.
Briefs from the Blogosphere