Essay: The Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster

The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster occurred on April 5th, 2010, in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The mine was located in Montcoal and owned by Massey Energy, but bought out by Alpha Natural Resources in 2011. Twenty-Nine of the thirty one miners at the site were killed by the explosion. A state funded independent investigation would later find Massey Energy directly responsible for the accident. (www.sourcewatch.org) The explosion was ignited by high methane levels being a contributed factor. You have to ventilate the air in the coal mines so methane levels do not get high and cause an accident. The miners failed to do so, and they paid for it. They also did not rock dust, you have to rock dust the coal mines so you can see and help ventilate
MSHA wrote 369 citations, assessing $10.8 million in fines. Alpha Natural Resources settled its corporate criminal liabilities with the U.S. Attorney for $209 million. Gary May who ran Alpha, plead guilty and confessing to conspiring to impede MSHA’s enforcement efforts. Gary May will face up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy, at the time of the explosion was convicted in 2015 of conspiring to willfully violate safety standards. He was found not guilty of charges of securities fraud and making false statements. (www.sourcewatch.org) Don Blankenship did, however, get convicted of a misdemeanor in 2015. Federal jury convicted Blankenship of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards. The misdemeanor charge carries up to one year in prison. He was also acquitted of making false statements and securities fraud. Blankenship was charged with conspiring to break safety laws and defrauding mine regulators at the mine, which caused the explosion in 2010, killing 29 miners. (www.sourcewatch.org) This is not the first time Don Blankenship has been in trouble with the federal