Massey Denies It Prevented Miners From Attending Funerals

By GottaLaff

Earlier, I posted about Massey Energy refusing to allow time off for miners who wanted to attend their loved ones’ funerals.

They're denying it.

Massey spokesman Troy Andes:

“We know of no instances when miners were denied a request to attend a funeral.”

They know of no instances. Maybe someone simply forgot to tell them. Or they did this:

The Washington Independent also reminds us that even if this wasn't a Massey policy, it might have been enforced by subsidiaries who actually run the mines and have their own rules.

Massey Coal: No Time off for Miners to Attend Friends’ Funerals

By GottaLaff

A sign outside a West Virginia vigil for coal miners who lost their lives in the Upper Big Branch explosion on April 5 (EPA/ZUMApress.com)

If Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, had been confronted by strong unions, things might have been different. Lives might have been saved, and this despicable turn of events might have been avoided.

Via the Washington Independent:

Massey Energy, the Virginia-based coal giant that runs the Upper Big Branch Mine, has denied time off for miners to attend their friends’ funerals; has rejected makeshift memorials outside the mine site; and, in at least one case, required a worker to go on shift even though the fate of a relative — one of the victims of the April 5 disaster — remained unknown at the time, according to some family members and other sources familiar with those episodes. In short, the company might be taking heat for putting profits and efficiency above its workers, but it doesn’t appear to have changed its tune in the wake of the worst mining tragedy in 40 years.

Remember the scene in Miracle on 34th Street, when Kris Kringle is talking to Alfred, the Macy janitor and Alfred laments...



That's all that matters to Massey: profit. Profit over lives. The very people who make him money are expendable. But dollars aren't.

“They told my husband, ‘You’ve got a job to do and you’re gonna do it,’” said the wife of one Massey miner, referring to the funerals he’s missed this month for friends who died in the blast. “What else are we gonna do?”

What else, indeed.

The culture of fear is everywhere. It's in politics, it's at gun rallies, at Tea Bagger protests, white supremacist gatherings, and now it's directed at those who lost loved ones:

“I guarantee it: Massey’s already told these guys, ‘Hey, don’t say nothin’. You’re not talking to no reporters. You’re not saying nothin’ about our safety record — or you won’t have a job,’” said Chuck Nelson, a former Massey miner who’s since become an environmental activist with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. “That’s the way they operate.”

That's the way they operate. There isn't a heart anywhere in Blankenship's body. He and Cheney should start a club.

Massey wouldn't even let a mourner hang a wreath at the entrance to the mine. Nice people skills, Don. Bully much?

“When we were all union, if there was something that came up, it wasn’t no problem at all to shut that mine down until everything was fixed.” said Nelson, who worked for nearly 20 years in union mines before Massey took over. “Non-union [workers], they ain’t got that right.”

Massey ain't got nothin' right.

H/t: hapkidogal

Coal Industry Front Group to Miner's Widow: "Everyone Wants Free Money!"

By GottaLaff

Marlene Griffith lost her husband, William Griffith, in the now infamous coal mine explosion in West Virginia. She is suing Massey Energy. The Griffiths were married nearly 33 years.

But before they could celebrate their anniversary, Massey's negligence created an unspeakably horrific nightmare that could have been prevented, one that Marlene will have to live and relive with forever.

Here is how Nathan Coffey responded. His Twitter page has since been deleted:


This would be the same Nathan Coffey who is the Public Affairs Coordinator of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). What's ALEC? Glad you asked, but you won't be:

ALEC, founded in 1973 by conservative activist Paul Weyrich, is a DC-based front group which helps state lawmakers craft corporate-friendly legislation. State-based schemes aimed at deregulation are often conceived and coordinated out of ALEC. It is funded by some of the biggest corporations in America, including Koch Industries, Wal-Mart, and AT&T, as well as by the coal industry.

Coffey was right about one thing. "Everyone" wants free money.

Judge Who Vacationed With Massey CEO Now Running For Congress

By GottaLaff

Justice Elliott E. Maynard, left, and Don L. Blankenship, chief executive of Massey Energy in Monaco

See that photo? That's Massey Energy's Don Blankenship living it up on the French Riviera with his buddy, his pal, his good ol' boy "Spike".

And who is this Spike we speak of? Why, he's none other than former State Supreme Court judge Elliot "Spike" Maynard who is all about pallin' around with the coal industry. And now he's running for a seat in Congress against a Democrat.

Don'tcha just love when friends help friends? It's just so cozy and... cronyish:

These aren't the best of days for Don Blankenship, whose systematic downplaying of safety concerns as the CEO of Massey Energy helped lead to last week's deadly mining disaster, and got him named the "seventh scariest person in America." But by next January, things may be looking up for the hard-charging coal boss: He could have a very close friend in Congress.

Spike the Friend will be facing off against Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.). That would be in the very same district that one might refer to as "coal country". How convenient.

And just for good measure, Spike the Friend has accused Washington Democrats of "declaring war on the coal industry." That is some great friend... if you're not a Democrat. Or into coal. Or black lungs. Or lax oversight. Or mining disasters.

You can read the rest here.

Must see VIDEO: They're mining graves

By GottaLaff

This video comes to us by way of my pal Micheal Stinson, aka Symbolman, who co-authored that snarky coloring book of snarky coloring books, Going Rouge. But this time around, he's not snarking.

35-60 graves "don't mean nothin' to them":

In 2006 Takebackthemedia interviewed Larry Gibson, the last holdout in an area in West Virginia being decimated by mountaintop removal techniques. He gave us a full tour and we filmed for 8 hours a variety of areas in the process of destruction, most chilling is this footage of a coal company MINING the Family CEMETERY in full sight of Larry's home. Judge this outrage for yourself. Hours of incredible footage available along with film makers for interviews. Contact symbolman@gmail.com

Talk about "unclean" coal. This gives "death panel" a whole new meaning.

Isn't it the "pro-life" party that supports mining like this? So once a loved one has passed away, they become meaningless and can be bulldozed into oblivion. Got it.

Please note: Micheal would love to finish the film, but he needs funding. If you are able to give him any assistance or advice in that regard, please contact him at the address above.

UPDATE: Micheal has more at DKos here. Please take a look.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

Pressure builds against mountaintop coal mining

By GottaLaff

(Via. Click on image to enlarge)

I hope the pressure is so pressurey that it pressures the administration into stopping this practice once and for all:

Mountaintop coal mining, which involves blowing up mountain peaks to get access to coal seams below, should be halted immediately because of growing evidence of its environmental and health threats, scientists urged Thursday in the journal Science.

Oh, what do scientists know, anyway? They clearly missed that whole "humans and dinosaurs co-existed" meme that's floating around the Conservaverse.

The paper, by a group of hydrologists, ecologists and engineers, presents a new and difficult challenge to the Obama administration, which has upset environmentalists by continuing to approve such permits even as it has promised to rely on scientific expertise in deciding whether to grant permits for the controversial practice.

So what's so wrong about blowing mountaintops off? It's not like they have feelings or anything.

Environmentalists say it degrades the landscape, destroys habitat and pollutes streams that get filled with debris from explosions.

Pfft. Big deal. It's much more important to make money sandwiches for the coal mining industry.

The issue is politically touchy for President Obama, who won his election with the support of environmentalists but also needs support from voters in coal states, such as Ohio, where he won by a narrow margin.

Everything is politically touchy for Obama. Drop in the bucket.

How about pollutertop mining? Now there's a real moneymaker.

Eradicating an ugly Bush stain: EPA blocks mountaintop removal.

By GottaLaff

A clean, healthy America is fashionable again! Sing it with me! Mr. Clean gets rid of dirt and grime and grease in just a minute, Mr. Clean will clean your whole house, and everything that's in it. Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean...

In a major reversal of Bush policy, “mountaintop coal-mining permits are being put on hold until the projects’ impacts on streams and wetlands can be reviewed,” the Environmental Protection Agency announced today:

Citing its regulatory role under the Clean Water Act, the EPA said the letters stated that the projects “would likely cause water quality problems in streams below the mines, would cause significant degradation to streams buried by mining activities, and that proposed steps to offset these impacts are inadequate.”

Another ugly midnight regulation Bush stain bites the dust.

The ugly Bush stain: Coal mining edition

By GottaLaff

The U.S. needs some effective detox:

Coal Mining Debris Rule Is Approved:
The White House on Tuesday approved a final rule that will make it easier for coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys. The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President [sic] Bush’s last weeks in office.

The reek is nauseating. Let's hope the Obama administration can eradicate most of the malodorous, hideous Bush stain on what was once a beautiful, healthy country.