Safety officer refuses to testify in Upper Big Branch mine disaster
The top safety officer for Massey Energy, owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners died in an explosion on April 5, has invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and won’t be interviewed by those...
View ArticleShould government get out of safety award business?
Six months before 29 workers died in its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, owner Massey Energy received three Sentinels of Safety awards from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). An...
View Article1 year after death of 29 miners: What’s improved?
One year ago today, 29 miners died in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in West Virginia, owned by Massey Energy. In the last 12 months, what’s been done to make sure a disaster like UBB...
View ArticleMine disaster: Hazards hidden, production over safety
An official from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) delivered a stinging indictment of the operators of the Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in West Virginia where 29 miners were...
View ArticleMine superintendent charged in Massey mine disaster, could face prison
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where an explosion killed 29 miners in 2010. Legal experts who have been watching the case say this means...
View ArticleManager going to jail for 3.5 years for hiding safety violations
A judge has sentenced to prison a former manager of the company that ran the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners died on April 5, 2010. David Hughart, a longtime Massey Energy official, pleaded...
View ArticleCEO could spend life in prison in connection with workers’ deaths
It’s one of the biggest safety disasters in recent memory. Now federal prosecutors have gone to the top to hold a company official responsible for conditions that led to workers’ deaths. And the CEO’s...
View ArticleIt’s official: Feds to ‘increase frequency of criminal prosecution’ for OSHA...
The federal government says it will step up use of a variety of laws to bring more criminal charges for OSHA violations, particularly those with fatalities and where there was a willful violation. The...
View ArticleCoal CEO gets maximum jail time in connection with 29 miner deaths
A federal judge heeded the request of prosecutors and has sentenced former Massey Energy Company CEO Donald Blankenship to one year in prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards....
View ArticleAppeals court upholds prison sentence for CEO in connection with 29 miner deaths
It looks like former Massey Energy Corp. CEO Don Blankenship will serve out the rest of his prison sentence now that an appeals court has rejected his arguments to overturn his conviction in connection...
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