The Massey Way

Massey Energy, the company that owned the Upper Big Branch Mine (UBB) in West Virginia, has finally been faulted with the disaster that killed 29 miners. It only took 13 months.

After the disaster, J David McAteer asked then governor Joe Manchin III (now Senator Joe Manchin III) for an independent investigation into Massey Energy and the cause of the UBB explosion. McAteer is the president for special programs at Wheeling-Jesuit University and was a former secretary of Labor in charge of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) under President Clinton.

McAteer's report made the following conclusions about the cause of the UBB explosion:

1. The explosion was preventable
2. The explosion was the result of egregious failures and violations of minimum safety standards including proper ventilation and water of coal particulates. The free flowing particulates coupled with methane buildup ignited an explosion that killed the 29 miners.
3. Self regulating pre-shift examinations broke down leading to violations that were not recorded. MSHA did not provide enough oversight to ensure minimum safety standards were complied with and the West Virginia Office of Miners Health Safety and Training failed in its role to oversee miner's working conditions.
4. Self regulation of miner's working conditions and health as a responsibility of the coal company broke down.
5. The disaster revealed an egregious disregard for the health/safety of coal miners working for Massey.

McAteer also commented on the culture of violations and avoidance at Massey. This section of the report sums up the "Massey Way":

"...Massey is...well known for causing incalculable damage to mountains, streams and air in the coalfields; creating health risks for coalfield residents by polluting streams, injecting slurry into the ground and failing to control coal waste dams and dust emissions from processing plants; using vast amounts of money to influence the political system; and battling government regulation regarding safety in the coal mines and environmental safeguards for communities."

Close to one year ago, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed. The Bill had an obscure section that required all coal companies to report mine violations under MSHA's Federal Mine Safety and Health Act section 104. Section 104 defines and sets penalties for violations that are deemed "significant and substantial...where there exists a likelihood...of injury or illness of a reasonably serious nature."

According to Massey's most recent 10-Q filings, which include the reporting requirement, they received 1,158 violations, including 126 at the UBB-South mine. The resulting fines were $4,416,785.

And, that's just for the first quarter of 2011.

After the UBB disaster, Democrats in both chambers introduced legislation to expand the regulatory power of MSHA by giving them power of subpoena and the power to close a mine, bolster mine safety laws, hiking fines for mine violations and whistle-blower protection. Republicans complained that the regulations would kill jobs and put a burden on coal companies. Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep George Miller (D-CA) have introduced bills that would strengthen health protection for miners. One bill passed the Education and Labor committee in House on a party-line vote, but stalled in the Senate. The bill has be reintroduced to the current Congress, but is taking a backseat to the debt ceiling debate.

What is so damning about the McAteer report was not the conclusion about Massey's fault in the UBB disaster or the safety violations. It was a short box on page 32 of the report that explained a post-mortem autopsy on 24 of the miners who died in the explosion. 17 of the 24 miners autopsied had Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis (CWP or Black Lung). That is a whopping 71%, or about ten times the WV average and thirteen times the national average. Of the seven that did not have an official diagnosis of CWP, four had "anthracosis" or what is often used as a placeholder for CWP. So, it is possible that 21 out of 24, or 87.5%, had CWP. The miners' ages ranged from 25-61.

A 25 year old with Black Lung...