Massey’s Blankenship: Past Mining Violations Shouldn’t Be Relevant to Deadly Blast
The Charleston Daily Mail had a long sit-down interview with Don Blankenship, the head of Virginia-based Massey Energy, which owns the Upper Big Branch Mine
Jul 31, 2020397.9K Shares5.8M Views
The Charleston Daily Mail had a long sit-down interviewwith Don Blankenship, the head of Virginia-based Massey Energy, which owns the Upper Big Branch Mine where 29 miners were killed in an explosion last week. Massey has been the focus of much attention because of the long history of safety violationsthe company has racked up at its projects in recent months and years — including ventilation problemsdiscovered at the Upper Big Branch just days before the blast.
Blankenship, though, basically dismissed that record, telling the Daily Mail that, “This particular mine I don’t think is very abnormal in terms of total violations.”
“„When somebody says, ‘Did the violations have anything to do with the accident?’ They should not, because every violation is abated and agreed to by everyone before there is any further mining. So you would not think that any violation of the past had any relevance.
Maybe not. But abatement is different than prevention. And a company with such a history of violations also has the obligation to explain why it’s not doing more to prevent those unsafe conditions from repeatedly surfacing to begin with. (It’s almost like they’re putting profits above safety.)
In the words of Celeste Monforton, a former mining safety official who’s now at George Washington University: “If they find these [violations] when they know the inspectors are coming, what happens the rest of the time?”
It’s a question that Mr. Blankenship will likely have to answer to lawmakers sometime soon.
Paolo Reyna
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Paolo Reyna is a writer and storyteller with a wide range of interests. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
Paolo enjoys writing about celebrity culture, gaming, visual arts, and events. He has a keen eye for trends in popular culture and an enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. Paolo's writing aims to inform and entertain while providing fresh perspectives on the topics that interest him most.
In his free time, he loves to travel, watch films, read books, and socialize with friends.
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